> Summoning Equestria: Arrival > by NicieLunar > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 'Whiteouts' > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's notes : No, i do not own 'Summoning Japan', it is the property of their respective authors, I just made this for fun. =/// To clarify first, I'm not that well versed in MLP Lore knowledge, in fact I'm still new to this fandom. I joined during the 2020 Covid Quarantine, so expect a lot of inaccuracies in this story, I'm also not very good at writing English, I depend on Google translate in writing this, This is also the first story I wrote, you can always help me improve the quality of the story by commenting and pointing out any inaccuracies I make. ///= =/// Canterlot \\\= The time was 5:30 AM, an early morning for the solar princess. Princess Celestia started to raise her sun and in turn, Luna lowered her Moon. Down below from the top of her tower, she could see the very capital city that she once directed to be built. Princess Celestia was proud of her city's design. It is one of the largest cities on planet Equus, though not as big as Manehattan, that's on a whole 'nother level. The ponies of the United Kingdom of Equestria were beginning to wake from their slumber and start their morning routine. Celestia smiled at the blazing sun that is hers, she takes pride in her duties. Raising and lowering the sun and watching her subjects live in peace and harmony is something she herself would want forever. The United Kingdom of Equestria has enjoyed a millennia of relative peace. This has given the ponies the opportunity to thrive and prosper. Every decade, new technologies are developed, new spells are created, and her subject's well-being goes for the better. Because of this, the United Kingdom of Equestria is categorized as the most advanced Techno-Magic civilization and is internationally regarded as a Superpower in Equus. Also, with the rise of the magic of friendship, Princess Celestia believed that all of this would continue for a very long time. As she was about to turn back inside to ready herself for day court, a blinding flash of light engulfed her view. She yelped in surprise as she lost her vision for a few seconds before it returned. After a few seconds of regaining herself, she heard the door open behind her. She turned around to look who entered and saw a royal guardspony with a worried face. "Your Highness, are you all right?" "Yes, I'm fine, what happened?" She inquired. "We don't know, Your Highness, a sudden flash of light blinded us momentarily. We thought it was an attack so we immediately rushed to your room as soon as possible." Princess Celestia thought for a bit, her ponies had it as well? "So you've had it too... Go back to your post, lieutenant, and stay alert, I'll talk to my sister regarding this strange event." She dismissed. With a flash, Celestia disappeared from the room, leaving the guardspony alone in her chambers. The guardspony simply looked around before shrugging and headed back to his post. Seconds later, Princess Celestia reappeared in one of the other towers in the castle, more specifically, her sister's tower. It wasn't a long way off so she didn't need the use a lot of energy. As she looked around her sister's chamber, she spotted her sister and moved towards her. "Sister, are you all right?" Celestia asked with concern. Luna turned towards Celestia and answered back. "Yes, we-... I am fine. Though, I am a bit curious, what just happened? I was about to head off to sleep when a sudden flash of light engulfed our vision and blinded us for a moment. Tis' an experience I don't want to go through again." Luna said. "You're not alone, Luna, me and some other ponies experienced it as well. I don't know what it is, but let's go to the dining room and have breakfast first. We'll start talking about it." Celestia said. "Oh... all right, sister." Luna said, though a bit tiredly as she hadn't slept yet. The two Alicorn princesses started walking together towards the dining room. As they arrived, they were greeted by their usual, Celestia with pancakes and Luna with a cup of coffee to keep her awake. As they enjoyed their breakfast and their time together, they would discuss what caused the flash of light at a later time. =/// Washington D.C.\\\= In the Oval Office, there is a man in his 40s, his name is Adam Wright. Adam Wright was elected to be president of the United States in November of 2024 and inaugurated on January 20, 2025. His campaign was basically an 'I will fix all the problems the previous administration created and bring American pride back because that is what the American nation deserves'. Many of the American population didn't believe in his goals, having been recovering from recent administrations, they believed that he would be amateurish. Though, to their surprise, unlike some other presidents in the past, he upheld his words. He started repairing the American economy, improving America's relations with other countries, improving America's well-being slightly, and trying to make agreements with America's enemies. (Think of him as an alternative version of Donald Trump) President Adam Wright was at his desk, looking at some documents he was given by his secretary. He was reading the files on the Iran Nuclear Deal and other stuff when suddenly, a flash of light engulfed his office room. He was caught off guard by the lack of vision and promptly fell out of his chair in surprise. The flash of light disappeared just as it came, and Adam Wright was now on the floor. Moments later, as Adam Wright was getting back on his feet, Secret Service agents started rushing into the room and began aggressively checking the room. Some of them even went as far as to throw out some of the pillows to check for something. " Mr. President, are you all right?" An agent said. President Adam Wright turned towards the agent and answered. "Yes, I'm fine. Did someone throw a flashbang in my office? I don't remember a door being opened..." "We don't know Mr. President, the flash of light also happened to us as well." "So what was it then? Did Ben pull another prank again?" Adam Wright said, looking back at a recent memory in which he was covered with glitter. "Uh... no, sir, Mr. Ben was not at the White House at the time. We've got word that everyone in the White House has gone through the same thing, and reports are still coming in which people have reported of 'sudden flash of light' before being able to see again. We advise you to follow us to a secure location as this is a possible attempted attack." "Alright, if this is a possible attack, we'd better get going." Adam Wright said. "You heard the president, let's get a move on. Stay alert and take the president to a secured location." The agent ordered. President Adam Wright began to be escorted to a secured room while everyone else in the White House tried to find out what happened. Was it their imagination? Was it something else? No one knew what it was, but little did they know, that in a few hours, the history of not only the United States would change, but the whole world forever. =/// Canterlot \\\= Luna was enjoying her meal in the dining room with Celestia. She sipped on her coffee to stay awake for the next few hours, having been interrupted by the flash of light, she had already drank 4 cups already. Princess Celestia on the other hoof was thinking about the flash of light. Was it something to be concerned about? She really didn't know, but that didn't stop her from speculating. "Sister, you mustn't worry about the flash of light. Granted, it was sudden, but it was short, surely nothing could've happened within that time frame." Luna assured her sister. Celestia looked at Luna worriedly. "That's the thing, Luna, it was short, but it happened to everypony." Celestia replied. Before Luna could respond, a guardspony walked in, a look of uncertainty on his face. Celestia turned towards the guardspony before speaking to him. "Ah, sergeant, you're here. Is there any information regarding the flash of light?" Celestia asked. "Forgive me, Your Highness, but I didn't find anything relevant other than the fact that everypony in the nation was affected, but you already knew that." The guardspony answered. "Hmm, strange... Could this be the works of Discord? Luna speculated. "I don't think so, Luna. Discord may be mischievous at times, but he's reformed. I highly doubt that he would cause something that could result in a nationwide panic." Celestia replied. "Then who do you think did it? Could it be that maybe Twilight or Starlight accidentally overloaded a spell?" Before Celestia could answer, one of the Royal guards entered the dining room. It was the lieutenant that Celestia saw earlier in the morning. "My apologies your for disturbing you, Your Highness, but I have been ordered to bring you urgent news" The lieutenant said. "News about what, lieutenant?" Celestia asked. "Communication Station Unity reported that all contact is lost with other countries and kingdoms, Your Highness. We've also got reports that other communication stations, ranging from the Manehattan Communication Station, all the way to the Neighgerian Communications Outpost, lost contact with nearby nations." The lieutenant reported. Celestia stared at the lieutenant for a moment. Are communications all lost? Impossible. The information she was getting sounded like something out of a horror story. "That should be impossible, lieutenant. Surely there is a fault with our communications, correct? Celestia said. The lieutenant shifted nervously at his spot. The sergeant and Princess Luna could only look on as the news was dropped. "Unfortunately, that is not the case, Your Highness. Technicians stationed there have double-checked, no... quadruple checked for any faults with the communications, but they have found nothing." The lieutenant replied. Princess Celestia could only stare with shock as the information was given to her. The United Kingdom of Equestria established a line of communication with other countries and kingdoms that had diplomatic relations with Equestria. With this, the United Kingdom of Equestria gets constant information and can easily communicate with other nations and kingdoms on matters such as politics and trade. Information is very important to Equestria. Several decades ago, Equus began to globalize. Losing any form of easy communication with other countries and kingdoms could result in something dire, something that Princess Celestia might have to deal with in the future. "Lieutenant, sergeant, get my council and tell them to come to the castle immediately to attend an emergency meeting." Celestia ordered. Both the guard ponies saluted before heading out of the dining room. As the door behind them closed, Luna looked towards her sister with a worried face. "I have a bad feeling about this..." Luna said. "As do I, Luna. This is something we haven't prepared for yet." "So how do we tackle this sudden problem, sister?" "I'm not sure yet, Luna, but hopefully with enough time, we'll be able to figure it out..." Nopony has had ever managed to find out what caused the incident to happen. Some say this was a warning from Fasut herself, or a curse that befell their nation. Nopony knows, but one thing's for sure, this will change the course of history for not just the entire continent of Equestria, but for all those who are involved. > Confusion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's notes : I want to explain that Equestria is a Techno-Magic based civilization, they have access to modern level science and millennium more advance in magic. =///Canterlot ///= Celestia sat in a special room on the west side of the castle. The room was filled with bureaucrats, advisors, military officers, and several nobles. The reason as to why many important figures were in a room was because they were discussing about the flash of light that affected everypony in their nation. "All of this must be the fault of those disgusting griffons! They've always hated us ponies..." One of the nobles said in disgust. "No way! Last month, her highnesses and Emperor Erokar had signed a non-aggression pact!" one bureaucrat replied. "If it were not the griffons, perhaps maybe the dragons then?" Another noble asked. Princess Celestia nodded her head in disagreement. "That's highly unlikely. I visited the Dragonic Kingdom last Sunday and opened a trade agreement with them. They have no reason to do such an act upon us." Celestia said. As the group of ponies spoke amongst each other, a military officer piped in. "Sorry for interrupting, Your Highness, I just received news that communications with the Crystal Empire have been re-established. From the reports I've received, they say that they too experienced the same thing. A momentary flash of light engulfed them and now they have lost all contact with the neighboring country; the Republic of Yayakistan." Princess Celestia was glad to hear that communications with the Crystal Empire had been re-established, but that raised some questions for Celestia, why were they the only ones that can come in contact with? "If that's so, are there any other countries or kingdoms that have received our transmissions? Surely with the Crystal Empire being back in communications with us, any other country and kingdom would have done the same." Celestia said. The military officer simply looked down for a bit, a look of sadness can be seen before looking back at Princess Celestia. "I'm terribly sorry, Your Highness, but until now, no other country has received our transmission. We tried to contact the civilian line, but they were also not found, they all fell silent..." He replied. The others in the room seemed disappointed with the news. How is it possible that only the Crystal Empire was able to establish communications with them? Before they could continue asking, the military officer spoke up once more. "Though... we received mysterious signals that we cannot understand. They use radio frequencies such as us, but there's something nopony can interpret." The pony military officer said. This caught Celestia and the other's attention. What could he mean by that? "What exactly do you mean that nopony can interpret?" Celestia asked curiously. Your Highness, all the signals that we managed to intercept all use languages that we cannot understand. We've checked the books, we've asked linguists from nearby areas, but none of them can understand a thing the voices say. I have a recording here if you want to see what I mean..." The pony officer reached into his saddle bag before pulling out a recorder. He set down the recorder on the table and started playing the recording. "大家早上好,这里是华南新闻,今天有重要消息要告诉大家!", 有人说这是美国的核袭击,但没有确切的答案! "Это новости времени Владивостока, сегодня утром в Тихом океане появилась загадочная вспышка света, правительство России все еще пытается ее идентифицировать" Ei pessoal, o que está acontecendo, há uma boa chance de um nuclear ter feito isso em s..olo americano, ainda estamos tentando verificar isso! "(This is CNN. As of minutes ago, a mysterious 'flash of light' had blinded everyone's vision this morning. The U.S. Government still hasn't commented about this anomaly, but there are many who speculate that this was a nuclear attack launched by North Korea. Though, this was proven wrong as there were no traces of radiation anywhere.)" All the ponies in the room were dumbfounded by what they just heard, even Celestia was utterly shocked by this. During the millennium of her life, she has traveled and visited all countries/kingdoms around the world. She had also learned all the languages ​​that all beings in the world spoke. Ranging from Zebrican, Griffonian, and even the difficult dialect called Hippogriffonese. Despite her large library of languages, whatever she was hearing was not only completely foreign, but the tongue was also completely alien to her. "What kind of language is that? I have never heard of it in my life!" An advisor commented. The ponies around her agreed. "This... is completely unexpected. General, where was the direction of this unknown signal?" Celestia asked. The pony general tucked away the recorder on the table before looking at Celestia. "All recorded signals were coming from all directions, Your Highness. The closest one so far was in the east." The general said. Celestia sighed before speaking, "Alright, we don't know what's going on. General, I want you to send a scouting party over that direction. They need to physically verify what's going on." Celestia ordered. The general nodded. "Very well, Your Highness, I'll send a scouting party in that direction. If whatever is sending these odd signals are proven to be hostile, what do we do?" The general asked. Celestia hadn't really thought about a hostile nation since everypony on the planet was peaceful. Though, if whatever were sending the signals were hostile, then she'd better prepare her nation for any form of hostile interactions. "If they are hostile, I want the scouting party to immediately retreat back to safety. We'll come up with some form of defense if we can not diplomatically talk with... whoever is sending these signals. Everypony is dismissed for the time being. If possible, notify me or my sister if there are any new developments about this situation." With that, Celestia and everypony else left the room. Celestia was really worried about what was really going on. First, a moment of blinding light. Second, losing communication with all the countries and kingdoms at once. Now? Now her country and probably the Crystal Empire is receiving different signals with languages she had never heard! With all of this, she hopes that her ponies will stay safe and the economy is stable enough to last during the largest communications crisis. Equestria was a center for trade, commerce, and the production of consumer goods. Her country is the largest economy in Equus. With a loss of communications, trade will suddenly stop and if it continues for too long, many ponies will lose their jobs. =///Washington D.C.///= In a secured room under the White House, President Adam Wright and all the important people of the United States discuss about what just happened. "Can anyone here tell me what really happened?" Adam Wright asked nobody in particular. His secretary spoke up. " According to CNN, multiple amateur witnesses, and our bases on the West Coast, the flash of light we all experienced originated in the Pacific Ocean. At first, we thought it was a nuclear attack, but no traces of radiation were detected. Other countries also reported that they saw the same flash of light." "After the incident, all communications with Hawaii and other Oceanic countries were suddenly cut off. As if they never existed in the first place." His general added. "Hold on, general, did you just say we lost contact with Hawaii and some other Oceanic countries?" Adam Wright asked. The general nodded in return. "Yes, sir. All lines of communication, even civilian ones were suddenly cut off. We tried to re-establish communications, but couldn't succeed. Though, we managed to intercept an unknown signal we got on record." The general grabbed a remote nearby before pressing onto it. The screen in the secured room came to life and with it, an unknown voice. "Hoc est regnum Equestriae ad Griffon Imperium, quis accipit? Communicationes cum aliis terris amisimus, ibi adhuc estis?" ("This is the United Kingdom of Equestria to the Griffon Empire, is anypony receiving? We lost communications with other countries, are you still there?") "Hoc est Imperium Crystal Reipublicae Yayakistan, ecquis in hoc alveo est? Estne quisquam?" ("This is the Crystal Empire to the Republic of Yayakistan, is there anypony on this channel? Is... is there anypony there?") Everyone in the room, including the president, was shocked by what they had just heard. They had never heard such a language before in their life. To them, it sounded utterly strange and alien to their ears. "That ain't any language I know, general. What on Earth did I just listen to?" Adam Wright was confused. "I agree with the president, general. I have visited all the countries in the Pacific and no country speaks that language." A foreign secretary commented. "Well, I'm not exactly sure what language it is, but I request permission to send a plane to identify this strange signal. If we send some flyboys over there, we can identify whatever, or whoever is making these signals." The general said. The president thought for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. "You have full permission to send in some jets to investigate. if possible, keep trying to contact Hawaii and other Pacific countries." "Of course, Mr. President." The general responded. Suddenly, someone in a white coat entered the secured room. The meeting should not be disturbed except for a matter of absolute importance, so to see someone in a lab coat surprised those in the room. "Excuse me, who are you and what are you doing here? This is a secured meeting, no one should have access to this room unl-" The secretary was cut off. "I'm sorry to interrupt, my name is André Jefferson, I'm a scientist from NASA. Whatever I have in my hand is of the utmost importance and the president needs to see this immediately." He would hold up a folder as he said this. "Now hold on, son, what kind of important news?" The secretary asked. "It may seem absurd, but an unknown landmass suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean." The news he revealed shocked everyone in the room. The scientist immediately placed the file containing photos from satellites and showed a continent as big as the whole of Africa that suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Everyone was stunned by whatever the folder held. Whatever they saw, it was impossible... "This is preposterous!" The secretary exclaimed. The others in the room argued about this revelation while Adam Wright simply sighed before looking at the NASA scientist. "What kind of sick joke is this? Are you telling me that a continent appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?" Adam Wright asked, still not believing whatever he saw in the folder. "Unfortunately not, sir, this is not a joke, this is 100% real. We have confirmed it with satellites many times. We double, triple, even quadruple-checked our systems just in case they were faulty, they were not... The scientist replied before continuing on. "That isn't even the most shocking news, sir. During our observations, this continent is not uninhabited, we have detected traces of an actual civilization." The scientists would proceed to reach toward the folder before picking out a specific image. He handed the image towards the president and it showed a photograph of the city of Baltimare from outer space. Despite the image being taken from space, humanity has advanced to the point where they could take high-definition pictures from long distances. With that, Adam Wright could tell whatever he was seeing was built and not natural. Adam Wright sets the picture down and somebody else grabbed it to take a look. It went around the table and soon, everyone fell silent. "General..." Adam Wright turned towards the general. "What's your command, sir?" The general asked. "Contact NATO and our other allies in Asia about the developments. Order the FAA to stop all civilian flights over the Pacific. Ready all divisions in both the Marines and the Army. Increase surveillance on the unknown civilizations with the help of the US Space Force. Make sure the admiral is told about this so he can ready all fleets. For the first time in a long time, the U.S. is now in Defcon 2." "Yes, sir!" The general says out loud. Adam Wright simply nodded before standing to his full height. "Whatever is happening right now, this will change history forever and for that, we must remain vigilant in these uncertain times... Dismissed!" > Alternative History > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's notes : This chapter explained my version of history and the technology used by Equestria and the Crystal Empire. WARNING Some of the Lore on this page (especially those about the history of Crystal Empire) are outdated, so future pages will not be based again with this page again. The UKE was founded 2007 years ago when 3 pony tribes chose to unite and live together as one nation they called the United Kingdom of Equestria. Other sub-races, those of the bat ponies, had also joined the UKE in the year 0001 CLD, but the crystal ponies chose to follow their crystal princess or Empress Amore, to form a new nation in the north called the Crystal Empire. Just a few years after the UKE and the Crystal Empire was formed, Fausticorn, a pony goddess, descended from the heavens and brought upon the world two fillies whose race had never been seen before. Alicorns... Unlike other races, Alicorns were essentially immortal, possessing almost limitless magical power. They were also said to be immune to every disease known to ponykind. To the various mortal species on Equus, the Alicorns were seen as demigods, powerful beings who should not be messed with. Both Alicorns were female. The first Alicorn had a white coat and pink mane, her name being Celestia. The second has a dark blue coat and light blue hair, her name is Luna. For the ponies, it was a gift from the Goddess Fausticorn. As soon as Goddess Fausticorn had told them to take care of Celestia and Luna, she had disappeared in a blinding light, never to be seen again. A couple of years had passed with the ponies in charge of the UKE taking care of Celestia and Luna. They had taught them how to speak, how to learn, and how to be a normal pony. There were some ups and downs such as teaching them how to control their magic, but that too was solved. As the years went by, and both the Alicorns were of age, Celestia and Luna were appointed leaders of the UKE. Princesses Celestia and Princess Luna have ruled Equestria for millennia since the time they were given the role. During their reign, several wars occurred, mainly with the arch-rivals of the pony race, the Griffons and the Zebras. In 409 CLD (Celestia/Luna Descend), the Griffon Empire invaded Equestria from the east. The griffons were superior in military tactics, and within a few months, had taken over half of the UKE's territory. With no other choice, Princess Celestia manipulated the sun to focus most of its energy onto the Griffon continent. The result of this was the absolute annihilation of agriculture in the Griffon Empire. The Griffon Empire's citizens had begun to die due to the lack of food, and with the invasion using up most of their rations, Emperor Arivos VII sued for peace a few days later. In 874 CLD, the Principality of Zebrica invaded from the west. Unlike the Griffons who fought because they wanted to take the UKE's natural resources, the Zebras wanted to enslave the ponies. Their magic, their ability to manipulate their surroundings with ease, was the final reason for Prince Risgo to order his military to carry out the invasion. They began enslaving the ponies near the border, catching the UKE by surprise since there was never a declaration of war. With the actions of the Principality of Zebrica being known to the princesses, Princess Luna wanted to end the war quickly unlike her sister. A few days later, and after some preparations, Princess Luna had managed to cut a 1-kilometer piece of her moon, and dropped it onto the capital of the Principality of Zebrica, killing the capital's citizens and their prince. The remaining high-ranking government officials of the Principality of Zebrica immediately surrendered to the UKE. There was also the incident where King Sombra took over the Crystal Empire. The difference being that the princesses managed to defeat Sombra before he banished the Crystal Empire. Unfortunately, they were unable to save the Crystal royal family or the denizens of the city as they were in a thousand-year banishment spell. It was only after the spell had worn off and Sombra was defeated was when the Alicorn princesses took it upon themselves to also look after the Crystal Empire, though from a distance. They had indirect control of the Crystal Empire by personally appointing ponies to rule the Crystal Empire, one of them being Radiant Hope. A couple of years had passed since those faithful events, and everything returned to its normal peace. There were still crimes, raids, and the occasional monster attack, but it was still peaceful nonetheless. Though, that peace will be shattered once more because of jealousy. One day, in the year 999 CLD, Princess Luna had found herself corrupted with dark magic, turning the once peaceful nighttime princess into Nightmare Moon. A battle raged as both sisters, one of the sun, and one of the moon, fought ferociously in the clouds above and on the grounds below. They used every spell they could remember, using every ounce of strength to fight the other, and to use their wings to outmaneuver even the most skilled pegasi. The battle lasted for hours, and just as Princess Celestia was about to be killed, she was forced to use the most powerful weapon known to Equus, the Elements of Harmony. With the Elements of Harmony, she managed to save her beloved sister and reform her back to her normal self. (She reformed Luna just like Mane 6 managed to reform Nightmare Moon from MLP episode 1, because sending her to the moon is stupid. It's like hiding trash under your mattress rather than taking care of it properly, and I can't believe Elements of Harmony wanted to make such a potential time bomb like that) (Tell me about it) Despite being reformed and given the attention and fame she deserves, Luna had never truly mentally recovered from that incident, and will probably continue to be so for several millennia to come. After the Nightmare Moon incident, the UKE enjoys a millennium of innovation, especially in science and technology. In 1670 CLD, the UKE developed the Alefron's Tool. The Alefron's Tool was capable of converting magical energy that is contained in crystals into very useful energy such as electricity. With the founding of the Alefron's Tool, it sparked an industrial revolution in the UKE. Soon, other countries followed in the UKE's hoof steps and began their own industrial revolutions. The difference was that the other countries' industrialization was fueled by either coal or oil. The industrialization of the UKE was, and still is, mostly fueled with magical energy residing in magical crystals, and the electricity from converting that magical energy. This allowed the Equestrians to enjoy the benefits of industrialization without suffering from pollution, keeping their realm from being polluted with toxic waste. The best thing about this method was that the crystals can be refilled. The ponies only need to bury the empty energy crystals underground for several months, during which the crystal will absorb the thermal energy radiation created by the planet's core, thus giving the Equestrians access to an almost unlimited amount of energy. Equestria's population exploded in the year 1720 CLD, going from just 35 million ponies to a staggering 110 million ponies in just a few decades. The UKE began to develop and spread throughout the continent, making rise to great cities such as Baltimare, Manehattan, Vanhoover, Fillydelphia, Clouldsdale, and more. In 2007 CLD, the UKE had a population of over 300 million, meanwhile, the Crystal Empire only had a population of 2.5 million ponies. The UKE's population will continue to grow due to the abundance of land and resources, while the Crystal Empire was basically uninhabited due to how bad the temperature was there and will continue to be so, until now... The UKE has a GDP of 5 trillion bits (1bits = 3.5$) The Crystal Empire has a GDP of 500 Million bits (Thanks to its advanced crystal refinery industry) All of this would soon change due to the UKE's need to defend itself and its allies from the threats Earth would provide. > They're all gone! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's notes : Some people say that my story is the same as the alternate conversion bureau, I would say, NO, my story won't have humans forcibly turned into ponies, Celestia isn't some kind of crazy Xenophobe. My story is about Political, Economic, Cultural, and Religious effect from Equestria and Crystal Empire being transported to earth, I will also do a chapter about their respective perspectives and some individual stories. Slight changes in Lore : Equestria's navy will only consist of a few fleets of Airship, they have a few seacrafts, but that's only for maritime patrol, because I want them to build a modern military from scratch. =/// Canterlot \\\= Celestia was walking in the castle hall, she was still thinking about the mysterious signal that was intercepted by the military, also, the fact that the entire neighboring country except for the Crystal Empire suddenly went silent, and suddenly a mysterious signal in a foreign language that she completely didn't recognize made her very worried. She had to act fast, and one of them was trying to understand this foreign language and find out what was really going on, she needed somepony who could quickly understand and digest information and knowledge very quickly. But unfortunately, she will be very busy working on keeping Equestria's economy intact, so she will need somepony else to do it. 'Hmm, who will it be? Celestia thoughts. 'Of course Twilight, she sure can do it quickly and maybe she can be a good Equestrian translator for whatever country or kingdom that speaks that language.' Tia thoughts. And with a spark, Celestia prayed over the paper and Quill and then started writing a message for Twilight. Dearest Twilight I need your help with something important, if you already know this morning there was a flash of white light which we call, 'Whiteouts', and after utu suddenly communication and contact with all the neighboring countries except for the Crystal Empire. The thing I need your help with is what happened after we Equestria lost communication, the military intercepted an unknown signal, this unknown signal is using a language that I never heard before, even its tongue sounds completely alien and different from other creatures we have ever encounter in this world. I want you or maybe Starlight to come and try to understand this foreign language because Equestria needs to know what's really going on. About when, I need you to come as soon as possible because we need to act quickly and figure this out as soon as possible. From Princess Celestia After finishing writing a message for Twilight, a spark occurred and Princess Celestia sent her letter to Princess Twilight Sparkle. =///Twilight Castle \\\= Twilight was reading a book on her desk, she was reading a book about divination and future scenarios that were predicted by wizards many centuries ago. Everything could have been until a letter suddenly spawned in front of her face and fell on the floor. She immediately recognized it as a message from Princess Celestia, she started reading it and scrutinized every word written because the content inside was unbelievable. She felt confusion, excitement, and a little bit of nervousness after reading the letter. She started to call her number 1 assistant. "SPIKE!" Twilight said "Yes, Twilight?" Spike said "Can you call Starlight? tell her that apparently, Princess Celestia needs my help in a very important matter, she said it was related to the flash of light we experienced this morning." "Of course Twilight, I will call her." Spike said Spike immediately ran out of the room and looked for Starlight, and a few minutes later Starlight came and entered the room. "Do you call me, Twilight ?" Starlight said Yes, this is about the white flash incident that we had this morning, Princess says this is not only experienced in Ponyville but in Canterlot as well and possibly throughout Equestria." Twilight said "Wait..,Really?, What happened?" Starlight said " She says she doesn't know, they called it 'Whiteouts', after this incident all communication and contact with other Nation/kingdoms except the crystal empire was cut off and gone silent." Twilight said "w-what?" Starlight said "After that a mysterious signal was intercepted by military radio communications, they said they couldn't understand what this signal meant because it was using a language they had never heard of before, and also the tongue was completely foreign to Celestia " Twilight said "So... She wants us to try to translate this language?" Starlight said "Yes, she said we should do it as soon as possible, will go to Canterlot tomorrow morning, so we have to get ready and pack the items that will be needed" Twilight said "Of course Twilight, I'll pack any books you might need." Starlight said "Oh, and don't forget to tell the girls that I can't go to Pinkie's party or hangouts with them, because I have to go to Canterlot." Twilight said "As you wish Twilight." Starlight said Starlight left the room, then Twilight leaned back in her seat and started thinking, the flash of light that blinded people across the country was strange enough, and now communication and contact with other countries have been cut off and replaced with unknown signals in foreign languages ​​that have never been heard before, making today the weirdest day ever this month. Twilight looked at the clock, it was soon afternoon, she started to get off her seat and started to go to her room, she had to get ready to pack her things away tomorrow morning. =/// Naval base San Diego \\\= Admiral Jordy Wilson is sitting in his office where he is reading files on the preparations for the operation he will be carrying out, he will soon be leading the Carrier Strike group, and he could see in his window one of the American Aircraft Carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt is docking at the port and getting ready to travel to a continent that suddenly appeared in the middle of the pacific ocean. He still remembers nearly 30 years ago he and his family watched a movie about aliens coming to earth and trying to annihilate humanity. Where a giant spaceship comes from outer space and starts destroying cities on earth and then the main character saves the day. He never expected that an alien would suddenly appear along with the giant continent in the American backyard. And the most extraordinary thing is that he will be the person who will lead the first contact mission. The reaction of the entire world upon learning of the sudden appearance of a new continent in the Pacific was one of shock and awe, and they were even more dumbfounded when satellite photos began to show signs of alien civilization on the continent. This is the greatest Discovery for mankind and Jordy is ready to have his name immortalized in history. He kept reading the files until someone came inside his office. "Admiral Jordy" "Oh, Captain Brian, how are our preparations for the operation?" Admiral said. "Our preparations for the operation Contact Eagle are complete, ammunition, food, and fuel are full, and the crew is ready to begin the operation sir," Captain Brian said Good, tell them we're leaving at 4:30 pm, Admiral said happily. "Erggh,..Admiral?" Brian said "yes?" Admiral said "In your opinion, the choice to deploy the Carrier Strike group in the first contact operation is wise?" Captain Brian said "I understand your concern captain, but top brass don't want to take a chance, and besides from the satellite photos show that they didn't actually come here to invade" Admiral said "Wait, really?" Captain Brian said "Yes, take a look at this." Admiral said The admiral shows satellite photos of Baltimare, and Fillydelphia, Feathersjaya, the captain looks interested in the photo, in the photo there is a city that looks peaceful and looks very beautiful. Especially Featherjaya, it is one of the biggest cloud cities in Equestria, built on top of the mountain ranges in the southern part of Equestria, this allows non-pegasus to live there too. "I know what you're thinking Captain, and to be honest, I was also really impressed seeing them build their city on a cloud, and the reason why I think it's absolutely impossible that this is an attempted invasion is because if they come to attack they must have an invasion force ready to attack, And according to intelligence there's no sort of invasion fleet in store to attack us." Admiral said "So then what is the reason that made them come to Earth?" Captain Brian said "It's something we still don't know for now, if they wanted to attack they would definitely do it in the first hours since they came to earth, but until now there have been no attempts to attack at all." Admiral said "That's a very well-thought process, Admiral, I hope that the first contact between humans and aliens will go smoothly and bring good to mankind." Captain Brian said "Thank you for the compliment, captain, and if you'll excuse me I'll go to my private compartment, and tell Deputy Admiral Alex Collins that I will want to meet him at the ship bridge." Admiral said "Of course Admiral." Captain Brian said Captain Brian then saluted Admiral Jordy and left the room. They don't really know how the first contact operation will go, only history can tell. =/// Canterlot \\\= It was 5:30 pm, Celestia was on top of the castle tower and had a beautiful view of the capital city, soon it was time for Celestia to lower the sun and Luna to raise the moon. Even though she has lived for 2 millennia the scenery never gets old, Celestia was there sitting and while taking a deep breath of fresh air, she had been busy since this afternoon dealing with the problems that had occurred since this morning, which somehow went from bad to worse. A few minutes later she heard hoof steps behind her, she looked behind her and saw his sister walking towards her. "Apparently you're here sister, I thought you'd be somewhere else, this place is indeed a very perfect location to relax your mind." Luna said "It's been a very tiring day Lulu," Tia said "Apart from trying to manage the work of implementing a quick policy to deal with the loss of communication and contact caused by 'Whiteouts', and trying to find the origin and meaning of the mysterious oil that General Crimson showed earlier this afternoon, what made you so tired?" "All these things get worse, somehow the ponies who were traveling or living outside of Equestria suddenly got teleported back here, it happened right at the time of 'Whiteouts', they said they remembered nothing but a flash of light blinding them before they found themselves back in the country." Tia said "w-what?, All of them?, b-but how? Luna said Previously there were 7 million ponies that were outside of Equestria and scattered in various countries/kingdoms around the world, they're there for various reasons, ranging from tourism to other businesses. "I don't know Luna, the report is really overwhelming, I have to do a Nationwide lockdown and wait until we manage to figure out what really happened," Tia said "This was really strange, for millions of ponies to suddenly be teleported in an instant it was really worrying, even Discord will take a few hours preparation to teleport that many individuals," Luna said "This is why today has been really tiring, and also tomorrow I have to go to Fillydelphia, the military there said that they detected some kind of unknown flying object to be flying very high in the sky, far from the normal range of the Pegasus, so I have to try to go there and identify what the object is." Tia said Equestria have access to a technology they call the Magidar detector, this tool can detect specific objects or living organisms with great accuracy. Unlike the Radar used by the Minotaur Confederation, the Magidar Detector is capable of switching modes for detecting specific objects without being disturbed by the weather or terrain, as it emits waves of magical energy and not high-power signals like normal radar does. "So I'd like you to take up my position temporarily in the tomorrow morning?, and have sent Twilight a letter to come to Canterlot and try to translate any foreign language we find." Tia said "Oh, of course, Tia, we can take your morning position for a while and maybe Twilight to start her work on translating the language." Luna said "Thank you, Luna, I know I can always count on you, anyway, it's time for us to do our duty special duty." Tia said The two Alicorn sisters began to perform the duties they had been doing for 2,000 years, it had basically become a part of their lives. But something is wrong. "ERGGHH..." Tia said "What's wrong sister?" Luna said "The sun... IT..DOSEN'T.,WANT,, TO ,MOVE.." Tia said "What do you mean the sun won't move?, you've been doing this for your whole life, let me try to-.." Luna said "NO, ..IT'S OK,.. I THINK... I KNOW,, WHAT TO DO..." Tia said Celestia also began to channel a HUGE amount of energy into her horns, her eyes began to glow white, and Luna had to cover her eyes because of the glare. the sun began to descend to the horizon and night came, Luna began to raise her moon. After finishing, the light from Celestia's horns disappeared and her eyes started to return to normal, she panted heavily and was sweating profusely, never in his life had he expended so much energy at once, he would have collapsed to the floor from exhaustion, luckily Luna was there to catch her body before it hit the floor. "Sister!, are you all right?" Luna said "y-y-yes, I'm fine." Tia said What happened?, I don't understand why you have such trouble moving the sun, you have already done it for thousands of years." Luna said I don't know Luna, the sun won't move gently as usual, I have to force it to move and als-.." Tia said "Ssshhhh, its ok Tia, you have done enough for today, let's go to your chamber and have some rest, you seem to be consuming most of your energy today" Luna said The two Alicorn sisters entered back to the castle, went to Celestia's chambers, and took a rest for the day, they are not aware of what they have done to the solar system, but what is certain is that the sun is no longer the center of the solar system anymore. > Announcements for the people > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =///Washington D.C.\\\= It was 7 pm at that time, and President Adam was getting ready for a nationwide announcement, he had spent the previous hours memorizing the announcement script regarding the American official commentary on the sudden appearance of an alien continent in the middle of the Pacific. He has to be really careful in what he says because if one word is wrong the press will twist the meaning of the narrative and eat him alive. He was in his room fixing his tie and getting his suits ready to go to the official announcement, and behind him heard footsteps approaching him, he turned and saw his wife standing there with a slightly worried face. "What is it, honey?" Adam said. "I'm just a little worried about everything that's happening on right now." his wife said. "Don't worry honey, I'm sure everything will be fine, according to the satellite report there was no sign of an attempt to attack at all." Adam said "Then why did they come to earth?" his wife said "We still don't know that for now, that's why I sent a naval fleet to try to contact them." Adam said The whole world is in a state of tension after the sudden appearance of a new continent in the Pacific, they don't know why and how they can suddenly spawn in the middle of the Pacific. And the worst problem is the fact that the disappearance of Hawaii and several Oceanic countries, many people speculate what fate befell the people in Hawaii, but many assume that they were all dead, this made many countries nervous about what to do, and the United Nations has declared an eleventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss and establish a global policy on what to do with this alien continent. "I hope you will be right" his wife said " By the way, how is Ben doing?" Adam said "He doesn't really have much to do other than trying to pull a prank on the janitor" his wife said "Oh great then, I hope he won't cause too much trouble for this month as I'll be really busy with current matters right now" Adam said I'll keep my eyes on him, just be careful okay?" his wife said "I promise to be careful." Adam said Adam finished tidying up. He suited himself up and started going to the Oval Office, where there was already a camera and microphone, and so he sat down in his chair and got ready to give his official statement to the people of America and the world. "My fellow Americans." "Today I bring you news of the greatest discovery in human history, at 11:27 am, a kind of flash of light covered the whole world and suddenly a continent 2,7 times bigger than Europe suddenly appeared in the middle of the pacific ocean" "We still don't know how and why this continent appeared on Earth, but based on the information obtained from the satellite, it shows that this continent is inhabited by intelligent alien life." And with this the American government has sent a carrier fleet to the earth to make the first contact with the inhabitants of the continent "And fear not my people, the American military is ready for any potential attacks from the continent and will always be ready to protect the lives of its people and its allies" "May god bless you, and may god bless the United States of America" =///'INTERNET P.O.V'\\\= "OMG, I can't believe this is actually going to happen in my lifetime!" Internet users said "I can't wait to see how they look, from a satellite image, they build their city above the clouds" other users said "WAIT?... Really? Does that mean they can fly?" other users said "Yes, and take a look at this!" *Shows pictures of Cloudsdale and Los Pegasus* "OH...WOW, that's REALLY cool! I really want to try visiting it!" Other users said "But what if they are aggressive? they can kill you! Other users said "And then I'll take my AR 15 with me." Other users said. "That's really idiotic" other users said "I really want to know how aliens make babies!" Some R34 user said. "You fu#$king perverted piece of $hit!, I hope you die eaten by Aliens!" Other users said. "YO, this is not Twitter, stop arguing like an idiot!" other users said "Stop lecturing me >:C!" other users said. >>>>>///\\\<<<<< =/// Canterlot \\\= It was 5:30 am on the second day after the 'Whiteout' incident, Celestia woke up from her bed with the biggest yawn she had had in decades. She began to stretch her body like a cat that just woke up from a very long sleep, she also looked around her private chamber and confusion what was last night. After a few minutes of thinking, Celestia finally remembered what happened last night, somehow the sun became very difficult to gently move as usual, so she had to force it to move. She also remembered that today Twilight would come and she had to go to Fillydelphia this afternoon because of reports of unknown flying objects, she hoped all these strange happenings would stop and everything would return to normal. But unfortunately, her mother Faust already had another plan. She looked out of his balcony and saw Luna was in another tower and it looked like she was doing 'something', that was really strange because she should have lowered the moon at this time. He also took out his wings and started flying to the next tower, when he landed there was Luna, surrounded by equipment like a telescope, sextant tool, range finder, some scrolls, and lots of books. she wondered if Luna had suddenly turned into a nerd like Twilight in one night. Then she realized something, Luna was actually crying, she could hear her sobbing, Celestia started to speak. "Luna, are you all right?" Tia said "No,,.we're not all right...*SOBS*" Luna said "Luna, what happened?" Tia said "They're all gone... *SOBS*" Luna said "w-what? Lun-" Tia said "GONE,...THEY ARE ALL GONE! ALL MY STARS, NEBULA, AND EVEN MY CONSTRLATION ARE ALL GONE!!" *SOBS* Luna said "But, how did they all disappear, I'm sure I saw some of the stars last night" Tia said "It's not like that Tia, they all disappeared and were replaced with new stars and constellations that I can't recognize" Luna said Celestia's eyes widened after hearing her sister's words, how did all the stars and constellations as well as nebulas just disappear and were replaced by ones she didn't recognize. Luna has been mapping the night sky with a telescope since Fillyhood, she basically maps all constellations and knows every star in the night sky, she even gave each of them a name, and basically became her only friend at night. And losing it all made Luna let out a cry Celestia had not seen in decades. Celestia hugged Luna and started trying to cheer her up. "Don't worry Luna, I'm sure we'll figure out a reason why your stars disappeared" Tia said No need Tia... I've managed to find the reason why,.." Luna "And is that the reason Luna?" Luna said "We are no longer in Equus." Tia said Those words hit Celestia like a train, her eyes widened and her heart rate started to increase drastically. "WHAT?,..Luna, please don't try to joking like that" Tia said "This is not a joke Tia, I'm really serious, after you sleep I did system monitoring of the planets and asteroids and... They feel different, I detected more than 7 planets in this system, Equus should only have 3" Luna said b-b-but.. Tia said "Think about it Tia!, everything now makes sense now, we suddenly lost contact and information with other countries/kingdoms in Equus except Crystal Empire" Luna said "And all the signals fall silent and are replaced with foreign signals and with languages ​​that are alien to us" Luna said again. Celestia breathed heavily, hardly able to cope and accept the sudden truth. "H-how could this be possible!?" Tia said "I don't know Tia, but I'm sure all this is because of 'Whiteouts'." Luna said Tia took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. Okay,..okay, the first thing is,...*takes another deep breath* we should not panic, I will inform the council about your finding and then I will announce it to all of Equestria this morning." Tia said "How about Twilight?" Luna said Tell her that her objective is still the same, namely to try to translate the signal that was intercepted by the military." Tia said "Okay sister." Luna said Celestia also looked at the horizon for a few seconds and then looked back at her sister. "You know, it's time we raised the sun and lowered the moon". Tia said "You're right, I almost forgot, but are you sure you will have trouble in moving the sun again like last night?" Luna said. "There's only one way to find out." Tia said Luna cleaned her tears, she then channeled magic energy into her horns and started lowering the moon. And at the same time, Celestia started to do the same thing, she tried to be careful not to exhaust herself out again this time. the moon began to set and the sun began to rise from the horizon. "Huhhh,..it was easier than I expected." Tia said "Yeah, and I think this is our formalization of starting our first day in this new world." Luna said "Yeah, let's go have breakfast in the dining room" Tia said "Yes sister." Luna said The two Alicorn sisters entered the castle and went to the dining room to have a morning breakfast. =/// Ponyville, Twilight castile \\\= It was 6 o'clock in the morning Twilight woke up from her sleep, she rubbed her eyes and started to get out of bed. She went into the bathroom and found Starlight brushing her teeth and doing her morning routine. "Oh good morning Twilight, how was your sleep?" Starlight said Very pleasant, how are our preparations for the journey to Canterlot? Twilight said "Everything is ready Twilight, we will go to the train station at 9 am" Starlight said "Great, I really can't wait to hear what foreign languages ​​are like" Twilight said "Yeah me too, I'll be waiting in the dining room, Spike is cooking Pancakes for breakfast." Starlight said "Okay, see you in the dining room." Twilight said Twilight also started doing her morning routine and got ready to go to the dining room, Starlight has been living in her castle for over 1 year now, they are really close together to the point where many ponies assume that the two of them are in a relationship, they are not actually wrong but not completely right either. Twilight went into the dining room and there she saw Starlight and Spike preparing pancakes on the dining table. "Oh good morning Twilight, I have prepared pancakes for you" Spike said "Oh, thanks Spike" Twilight said Twilight was sitting on a chair, she poured apple syrup on her pancakes and started eating it. "Erggh Twilight, when do you think you and Starlight will be doing in Canterlot?" Spike said. "Erggh, I don't know Spike, Princess Celestia she wants me to help her translate some foreign language." Twilight said "Hmm, why doesn't she do it himself?" Spike said "Maybe because she was busy?" Twilight said "Maybe, by the way, I'll turn on the Radio, I wonder what kind of news they'll be broadcasting this morning." Starlight said "Oh yeah 'News', remember when they said that I was dating you just because we were walking together in the park?" Twilight said. "Hmm well, they're... They are not exactly wrong now," Spike said Twilight and Starlight blushed, Twilight covered her face with her wings. "Spike,..that's just close talk okay? not dating,..nothing special" Twilight said "Hmm well, not yet" Spike said "anyways..." Starlight said Starlight started up his radio and started listening to the news. "Good morning everyone, this is CENN (Central Equestrian News Network), we have breaking news for you all, Yesterday after the incident that the Royal government called 'Whiteouts', the ponies who were supposed to be out of the country suddenly came back here."" "We still don't have any confirmation on the total number, but it is likely to be as high as 7 million ponies suddenly teleported and scattered across the country." "They were teleported in large groups, one of the largest being 50 thousand ponies who were teleported 2 kilometers near Manehattan" Princess Celestia ordered an effort to help them so they could return to their respective homes, she also ordered the suspension of trade and a temporary nationwide lockdown" "We also received news that the Crystal Empire is also experiencing the same thing, we still don't know how this could happen at the same time but Princess Celestia and Luna said they try would find out." Mass teleportation? 7 million ponies?..how is that possible?" "This must be because of Discord, that jerk always causes trouble." "I'll ask Princess about this once we get to Canterlot" "And for further news we would like to inform you all about the development of the relationship between Princess Twilight Sparkle and her marefriend Starlight Glimmer." (Mothafuc-) "Aahhh,. NOT again" Twilight said. According to reports from the people around Ponyville, Starlight Glimmer intends to propose to Princess Twilight Sparkle, there are also reports that they plan to make offspri--" "THIS IS A ROYAL EQUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY BROADCAST,..I REPEAT, THIS IS THE ROYAL EQUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY BROADCAST." "This is Princess Celestia, I sincerely apologize to my subjects if I disturbed your morning, but I have some very important news. You all must already know about the 'Whiteouts' incident that happened yesterday morning, after an intense research from me and Luna we concluded that Equestria along with the Crystal Empire were somehow 'Teleported' to another world. You find that the Parastellar and constellation maps have changed, Princess Luna detects that there are at least 7 large stellar objects or planets orbiting in this system instead of 3 in the Equus system, and to add to the proof of this theory is that Equestrian military has intercepted a mysterious radio signal using a foreign language with an Alien tongue that we had never heard of before, we don't know how or why this happened we still don't know for now, but fear not my subjects, we will do our best to protect Equestria and maintain Harmony in this land" "May my mother Fausticorn bless us all and Equestria."" The two mares and Spike were dumbfounded by the news, Starlight spit her morning coffee and Twilight almost choked on her pancakes. "You gonna be bucking kidding me! Is she drunk from tea!" *cough* *cough* Starlight said *Cough* "I don't think so,..*cough* Princess Celestia and Luna are not the kind of ponies who like to joke around at this scale." *cough* Twilight said "So it's real then? How in the name of Faust how did we end up in a different world?" Starlight said "I also don't know how that is possible, but I'll try to find out how it is by the time we get to Canterlot." Twitter said "Alright then, let's finish the food and get ready to leave, because soon it will be time for the train to Canterlot to leave." Starlight said They continued to finish their food and got ready to go to the train station. After a few minutes, they went to the train station in Ponyville and departed for Canterlot, their journey taking several hours. =///Crystal city, Crystal Empire\\\= Princess/Empress Mi Amore Cadenza is sitting on the balcony of a building that humans might call the crystalline version of the Eiffel Tower. It's been day 2 since the 'Whiteouts' incident, at first she was as confused as all the ponies in Equestria, but a few hours ago her adoptive aunt Celestia broadcasted what actually happened. At first, she couldn't believe what she was hearing, at first she thought this was some kind of sick joke, but she remembered that this was from Celestia. She knew Celestia, there was no way she would try to prank everypony like that. "Erggh Candace, the crystal senate announced an emergency session, they want you there to determine what we should do after Celestia gives the news of what exactly happened." Shining Armor said "Hmm, they've never acted this fast before,.. Alright then, I'll be going to the senate room soon" Cadance said The Crystal Empire is the only pony country in Equus besides Equestria, Crystal ponies are basically their own race of ponies, they are basically immune to very low temperatures and able to survive in the far north, because of their unique abilities they master crystal magic very well. (they can summon crystals from underground and kill enemies) In 0037CLD, Equestria demanded the Crystal Empire to become a part of Equestria, they wanted all the ponies to merge into one nation, but the Crystal Ponies refused and the Crystal-Equestria War started. Although Equestrian had a very large number of troops, they failed in conquering the Crystal Empire. This is because the Crystal Empire's advantage in terrain and the unique ability of the Crystal ponies to manipulate crystals and turn them into weapons made them able to withstand the Equestrian invasion. (At that time Tia and Lulu were still very young and still very focused on raising the sun and moon instead of fighting on the battlefield.) After many decades of war, the war ended in 0064 CLD after Princess Celestia and Luna signed the peace treaty, Equestrian with Empress Amore, they respected Crystal Pony's decision to remain independent as a separate nation, and they also signed an alliance agreement at 0070 CLD. But unfortunately, in 899 CLD something happened, the self-proclaimed king named Sombra who used dark magic managed to defeat Empress Amore in battle, But luckily the two Alicorn sisters defeated him in battle and managed to save the Crystal Empire from him and Dark magic. But sadly because of Empress Amore's death, the Crystal Empire basically became a puppet state of Equestria until 2001 CLD when one of Empress Amore's distant descendants named Mi Amore Cadenza took the throne and liberated the Crystal Empire from the indirect rule of Equestria. >>>>>><<<<<< =///Senate Chamber, Crystal Empire\\\= In the senate room, Cadence sits on his throne, and many senators are discussing what steps the Empire should take after they find out that they are no longer in Equus. One of the senators stood up from his seat and caught the attention of both the senators and the Empress. I'm Senator Light Arrow from Amira province in the east of the empire, after the teleportation incident, all the provinces, especially in the south, experienced a rise in temperature, which made the snow start to melt, and made many areas of the empire suitable for agriculture, I propose financing agricultural development and enlargement of the railroad network, The total cost of this new development is estimated at 80 billion bits Senator said. Ever since Equestria and the Crystal Empire were teleported to another world, the average temperature in the empire started to rise, this made many areas of the empire suitable for mass agriculture. "I agree with the proposal, this will make us even more independent of Equestrian for food imports" Cadance said "Those who agree, please put one hoofs in the air!" senate moderator said All the senators including Empress Candace put one of their hoofs in the air in agreement. "All right, is there anything else?" Cadance said Other senators stood up and he also received the attention of the senators and the Empress "I am senator Shining Stone from Aras province in the north of the empire, I propose the annexation of the former territory of the Republic of Yayakstan and finance the efforts to colonize the territory" Senator said All the senators in the room started whispering and talking to each other about the proposals. "That very bold proposal you have there Senator Shining Stone, there was a chance that Equestrian would become not very happy with this move." "It was a better choice than letting all the resources in that area be left untouched." Senator said "Hmm well, I think you are right senator." Candace said "Those who agree, please put one hoofs in the air!" senate moderator said The majority of senators agreed with the proposal, and Empress Cadence signed this new policy paper. Cadence didn't think Celestia and Luna would complain about this, after all this Crystal Empire wasn't a puppet state they could dictate anymore. And with the stroke of the quill, the Crystal Empire began an era of expansion and colonialism to manifest its destiny in dominating the northern part of the continent of Equestria. > Meeting > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =///Ponyville train station\\\= Twilight and Starlight are sitting in the seats at the train station, they are waiting for the train to Canterlot to come and take them there. As the two of them sat down, the other ponies at the station started gossiping behind their backs, and some started grabbing cameras and taking pictures of them. And of course this made them uncomfortable, especially for Twilight, their faces had been blushing and they tried not to start talking to each other because the other ponies will try to overhear their conversation. The whole situation feels really awkward until a journalist pony approaches them "Princess Twilight sparkle, is it true that Starlight wants to propose to marry you?" "What?, No, we haven't reached that stage ye--" Starlight's mouth was suddenly covered by Twilight's hoof to prevent her from speaking. "No no no, we're just friends, w-we don't have a any special r-relationship at all, we j-just friends, right Starlight?" "Y-yeah, we're just friends, nothing special" The situation became even more awkward, and Twilight saw other reporters starting to arrive, surrounding the two of them and bombarding them with a million questions. She couldn't hold it anymore at that point, she saw the train starting to arrive and Twilight quickly carried Starlight with her telekinesis and rushed to the train. A few minutes later the train started to leave for Canterlot. Equestria has a very very vast rail network and infrastructure, the continent of Equestria is huge and in fact the largest continent in Equus, because this continent is really big Celestia and Luna decided to divide it into four distinct regions, and 50 provinces in total. The first is the Europonie region in the north west of Equestria, consisting of provinces such as Prance, Germane, Sapin, Scoltland, Norwigail, Itaily, Turley and other. The second is the Africolt region in the south west of Equestria, consists of provinces such as Nigoria, Mareoko, Ethioponia, Ugande, Senigil, Konga, and other. The third is the Coltlombia region in North east of Equestria, consists of provinces such as Califoalnia, Mareland, Uhiu, Texson, Florada, Maretosa, New Mexicolt, Idahoof, Neigh York, Manechusetts and other. The fourth is Asina region in south east of Equestria, consists of province such as, Fillypine, Maresia, Shirelanka, Panthera, Stalionistan, Mongcoltlia, Austaillia, Japonies and other. A few minutes after Twilight and Starlight got into the train car, the train started to leave for Canterlot. For a few minutes of travel everything was quiet until Twilight started to speak "HUH,Finally.. a sense of peace" "Yeah, those reporters make me really uncomfortable" "In a few hours we will finally get to Canterlot, I am so excited to start learning this new language, and I wonder what the creature speaking it looks like" "I imagine it would be very difficult for us to understand their language, as it is an entirely alien language and we have no examples to compare to." "Oh, don't worry Starlight, I have a plan so we can understand the language quickly" After a few hours later they arrived at Canterlot, they spent several minutes walking from the Canterlot train station to the castle, during their trip, Twilight recounted her childhood experiences when she was still living in Canterlot, Starlight laughed as Twilight told her about the time she put a mousetrap in her brother's bed. (It didn't end well for Shining Armor nuts) Little did they know that behind them was a reporter secretly taking photos of them walking together, their photo will be on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow morning. By the time they reached the castle gates, they didn't need to say anything, the guards already knew who they were, and they opened the gate without even asking anything. All the guards there kept their stoic faces, but some had sad faces because of the close relationship between Princess Twilight sparkle and her 'friend' Starlight Glimmer, all the guards in the castle really thought they had a chance with the young princess, they were all really disappointed to learn the news that Twilight is into mare instead of stallion. A few minutes of walking on the hall, they ended up in the throne room, there they could see two 7 feet tall Alicorns (Yes, Luna in this universe is the same height as Celestia, because their age difference is only a few minutes apart.) "Oh Twilight, my faithful student, you have finally come." "Yes princess Celestia, I came as soon as I could after hearing that you needed my help in translating a new language, but may i ask you something?" "You are free to ask me about anything Twilight." "Thank you princess, I want to ask if it is true that we are no longer in Equus?, if so, how is that possible?, how could an entire continent suddenly be teleported to another world, wouldn't that require an godly amount of power?" asked Twilight. "That's something we still don't know twilight, even we ourselves are really confused about how this could be possible" "Then this must be Discord, he always creates trouble like this" said Starlight "I think we shou--" Before Twilight could finish her words, a flash of light suddenly enveloped the room and a Draconequus suddenly appeared and floated through the air. "Is someone calling my name? "Discord, I know you're behind all of this, return everything back to normal or I'll make Fluttershy never welcome you back into her house" Starlight Threaten. "Errhh me?, I didn't do anything" Discord says mockingly. "Stop your horse$hit Discord, if not you then who did this?" "That's not something a lowly unicorn like yourself can understand." Seeing the two of them about to start a fight Celestia immediately intervene, because the last time they fought they vaporized 1/8 of the Foal Mountain. "Please, the two of you, Discord, are you sure this isn't another trick of yours?" "Oh Celly, you know that I'm not the type of Draconequus who likes to claim something that wasn't my doing." "If not you, then who did this?" "Oh come on Celly, you know someone who has full access to this dimension really prioritizes you and your pony's life" 'Mom?' thought Celestia. "I actually really didn't like it when she intervened in this world, but this time I was actually really grateful." "And why is that?" Luna ask. "Oh Lulu, that's because this world is basically the definition of chaos and disharmony, they are so unpredictable." "Who?" asked Celestia Discord snapped his finger and he suddenly wore a gray uniform with a red elbow belt with a strange black cross symbol, he also wore a wierd looking mustache, very similar to very well known figure from 1940s. "The natives of this world of course!, they are basically willing to kill millions to fulfill their goal." The four ponies in the room gasped at the words Discord had said, they had never heard of a species that would ever dare to commit such a grand killing, even Luna was shocked, when she bombarded the Zebra capital with 1km chunks of stone from the moon, she basically gave them 3 days to evacuate, she only killed a few thousand Zebra that day. "Then we should mobilize our troo--" "Oh no no, you don't have worry Celly, I promise they won't do anything bad to Equestria, it's not that I'm sympathetic to the life of the ponies but I don't think Fluttershy will really appreciate me if I let something bad happened to her homes." "Thank you Discord, we really appreciate it." "Oh no problem Celly, oh yeah, by the way I have to go, it's time for me to have a tea party with Fluttershy, see yaa!" And with a snap of his finger, Discord disappeared, leaving the four ponies in the room with an awkward silence. It took several second before Celestia finally opened the silence. "Okay, well, I think we're going to have to start with an objective to initiate first contact with the Natives of this world" "Erggh princess, what if what Discord said was a lie?" "Twilight, we've known him for a long time, he never tells outright lies, only half truths" "Alright then, so what should we do first?" Twilight asked Hmm, I'll go and talk to my council, discuss the economy and coordinate the expedition to contact the natives, you can start your experiments to translate naive languages ​​and when you are done you can send it to me" "And what about Princess Luna?" "In the meantime, I am going to sleep in my comfortable bed, you can call me if you need my help in an emergency" Luna said proudly. "Arhh yeah, sleep, it's something you keep doing entire day" said Tia "HEY, that's because I spent the whole night figuring out what really happened and I'm the first pony to find out that we're no longer in Equus." "ERGGHhh,..fine Luna, you can go now." And with a flash of blue light, Luna disappeared and teleported herself to her private chamber to take a nap. "Alright Twilight, I will go talk to my council, you can go to the communication room and start your work in translating the native languages ​​of this world" "Thank you princess, we promise we will translate it as soon as possible" "It's okay Twilight, I'm the one who should actually thank you for your willingnes to help" "No problem princess, it's my duty to protect Equestria." "Alright then, we'll meet again at dinner, let me know when you're done translating it" With a flash of yellow light, Celestia teleported herself to another place to meet with her council. Meanwhile Twilight and Starlight went to the communications room in Canterlot, they only needed to ask directions from the guards on duty there, when they arrived at the communication room, Twilight smiled, she really can not wait to get to work. "This is where the fun begins." =///Chabot Space Observatory\\\= It was 11:30 p.m, Professor Andrew Barton is observing the night sky with his telescope, he and his colleagues have been working day and night because yesterday something strange happened. Somehow the Earth's distance to Mars has changed, they measure it to be maybe 5 to 7 times farther than it should be, this also happened to all other planet in the solar system. They think this is some kind of effect of 'Dark matter' affecting the solar sistem, but they still don't have solid proof of what really happened. Another strange thing also happened with the moon and sun, somehow the moon suddenly speeds up and slows down its orbit, sometimes traveling up to 15 times its normal orbital speed and suddenly stopping while over the pacific ocean, and while the sun also travels at a rediculous speed, almost 40% of the speed of light, it should be impossible, he thought. This strange phenomenon is not only recognized by Andrew and his colleagues, but all astronomers around the world, News began to spread on the Internet trying to theorize what had caused this to happen, many speculate this is the effect of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, but there are some who think this is the work of aliens who just came to earth a few days ago along with a enormus continent. Many people say that it's a stupid theory, even though they know that these aliens must be really sophisticated because they can teleport their continent to earth without any damage at all, not many believed they could change the orbit and position of a terrestrial object like this. But still there are people who suspect that aliens are the perpetrators of this because this phenomenon occurs 1 day after the arrival of aliens to earth. Even though his brain kept saying that it was impossible for the aliens to do this, his heart somehow kept saying that they were the ones doing this. he hoped the feeling in his heart was wrong, because if indeed the earth is basically doomed and humans will have no chance against these aliens if they attack. He drank his coffee, hoping that the caffeine would relieve his stress. 'It's much more stressful than in the movie' he spoke to himself. =///Eastern pacific ocean\\\= Admiral Jordy Wilson is on the bridge of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, he is looking at the horizon with his binoculars, he could see the ships in his fleet moving mightily in the sea. Operation contact Eagle has started, the fleet consists of 13 vessel. 1 aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt. 3 Arleigh burke class destroyer, USS Barry, USS Benfold, USS Carl M.Levin. 4 Ticonderoga-class cruiser, USS Bunker Hill, USS York Town, USS Normandy, USS Vincennes. 1 Amphibious assault ship, USS Boxer. 2 Supply ship, USS Vermillion, USS Lewis B. Puller. 1 Hospital ship, USS Desmon. 1 Submarine, USS Annapolis. After looking at the horizon for more than 30 minutes, he went to sit in his chair, On his desk is a document containing the latest satellite photos showing a huge metropolis, bigger than the average city on earth. (San Franciscolt, Seaddle, Pegasiopolis, and Chicoltgo) He hoped that the first contact would be peaceful, the satellite showed a more detailed picture of this alien continent, he saw that these aliens were not as sophisticated as he thought. The satellite vision results show a metropolitan city filled with skyscrapers, but nothing looks futuristic/Sci-fi or alien to the design of the buildings, in fact all of the designs are similar to modern 21st century buildings. After finishing looking at the content inside of the document he put it back on his desk, Admiral Jordy left the bridge and went to his private room to rest. 'tomorrow was a very important day' he thought. This was because tomorrow they would soon be within 1000 kilometers of the alien main land, and they plan to fly a few F-35s on the first contact mission, he hoped that everything would go smoothly as planned. The whole world is starting to feel relieved that the aliens living on the new continent seem to have the same level of sophistication as humans (or so they thought), so maybe they can negotiate and talk with them? But if they were at the same level of technological sophistication as humans how could they teleport themselves and their continent to earth? So many questions and so few answers. Many religious figures such as the pope have declared that the arrival of these aliens is a gift from God, while Muslims speculate that the arrival of aliens to earth is to bring God's judgment on the world. While the world was busy about what to do while the first contact operation was carried out, the Internet was running as usual, memes started to be made about aliens and possible human extermination because they tought human deserve it, Elon musk expressed his joy that aliens had come to earth and Twitter users started trying to ratio him, and many so called YouTuber 'experts' are saying that everyone should start preparing for the apocalypse now. Reddit user provide their 'intellectual' opinion to the 'society' and dictate them on what to do. 4Chan users talk about how humans will go to war with aliens and possible genocide. R34 users are constantly gearing up to get their first glimpse of what this alien might look like so they'll have new content to draw. They are all like this Because since 2020 a lot of crazy things have happened, to the point where they are not surprised by the arrival of aliens, many people have predicted their arrival since 2021. =///Magidar Station, Fillydelphia\\\= At that time 09:27 PM of the third day since the teleportation, 2 kilometers from Fillydelphia there was the so-called Magidar station. Magidar Station is used to detect and control air traffic in the skies of Equestria. This station works 24 hours a day monitoring the Airship's flight path to prevent collisions, many ponies work in different shifts between night and day to keep this station running, one of the officers who worked there was named Jade Flash. Jade Flash is doing his night shift, he is monitoring his Magidar detector display, a few days ago they detected an unknown object flying in the sky of Equestria, at first they thought this was just a civilian Airship, but the altitude and flight speed of this object were really high and fast, Its altitude reaches 14,000 kilometers and its speed reaches 950 kilometers per hour. He and the officers working there were confused by this object, they suspected that this was a new technology developed by the Griffonian Empire, but that theory was discarded after they heard their princess's speech. All the ponies in Equestria were shocked after hearing the princess's speech, many of them could hardly believe that they were no longer in Equus, but since these were direct speech from the princess, they have to believe it. The Equestria economy began to take a hit, many ponies lost their jobs, crime rate is starting to skyrocket especially in a big city like Manehattan, Pegasiopolis, Whinnyapolis, Maretropolis, Chicoltgo, San Franciscolt and many other. Except for Detrot, that city has been a hotbed of crime for the past 20 decades. Many ponies wanted to know what caused these sudden teleportations, and why they were sent to another world? Equestrians are actually no longer strangers to world-ending events, especially the ponies living in Ponyville, it happens so often to the point it sounds like a joke. But this time it felt different, it didn't feel like the usual villainy work, why did they teleport them to another world?, why would they care in teleporting 7 million ponies back to their homeland? So many questions and little to no answers, at least the princess promised everything would be fine, they hoped that everything would return to normal and that all of this would only be remembered as another failed attempt by the villains to destroy Equestria. He also remembered when princess Celestia visited this Magidar station to check the position and direction where this object came from, she said she wanted to coordinate an expedition to contact the natives of this world. Jade Flash looked back at the clock, this was apparently his break time, so he went to the cafeteria to get some coffee. After he returned he looked again at the monitor, nothing had changed until... BEEP BEEP,,,...BEEP BEEP The notification from the detector start to beeping, he looked back at the display and saw that there were 3 flying objects on displays, they are smaller than Airships, but fly much faster and higher than the average Pegasus. This thing isn't emitting an identifiable signature ID, he tried to contact the flying object. “Unudentify flight, this is Eastern Equestrian Traffic control center (EETCC),You are starting to approaching Equestrian air space, please respond!" They didn't answer, he tried to do it again but the result was the same, he intends to contact the military about this aerial intrusion, but before he does the mysterious flying object began to turn and fly back east. *Sigh* Jade Flash let out his tension, relieved that these mysterious flying objects changed their direction, he didn't know what it was, but one thing that was certain was that it was someone else's problem. =///Beijing, People's Republic of China\\\= In the presidential building of the second most powerful country in the world, a man who was in his 50s named Hao gongmin, he has been president of China since 2016, his main goal is to restore China's dignity after centuries of humiliation by western countries. China has built its blue navy so large that they could actually challenge the American navy head-on, but the problem is China doesn't have that many allies, their friendship with Russia is damaged since they keep copying Russian military technology and border skirmishes in 2018 near Vladivostok. The only countries that China can consider as allies or partners are Pakistan, Usbekistan, Tajikistan, the United Emirates of Afghanistan (Taliban) and several countries in Africa. Meanwhile, other countries, especially in Southeast Asia, really despise China, especially after their claim to the territory of the South China Sea in 2023. Hao was watching TV, ever since the arrival of the aliens to earth, the TV was basically filled with full 24 hour broadcasts non-stop discussing aliens and the world's reaction to their arrival and discussion about America's actions in sending carrier fleets to the alien continent, there is also discussion of a strange terrestrial phenomenon that has recently occurred in the solar system, where they say that the positions of the planets and the sun suddenly change for no reason, the world is basically filled with chaos with all this overwhelming news. Of course Hao will not let American's take all the spotlight. he is also planning his own first contact operation between China and the Alien but unfortunately he had to wait a bit longer because the PLA navy really had no experience in sailing in the open ocean before. China is basically an empire made of sand, their economy really depends on exports and imports from other countries, a small nation like Malaysia or Indonesia can easily block the Sunda strait and cutting off their access to oil from middle east, their military lacked any combat experience since the military skirmishes with Vietnam in 1978. But even so, he persisted in sending out their own fleet of carriers, he wanted to deploy their newest type 003 aircraft carriers and their type 055 destroyer as well as their type 066 cruiser. This is not only to try to maintain safety in contacting Aliens, but also to show off China's power to the world. And with the loss of Hawaii, he hopes that American's influence in the Pacific will begin to weaken and maybe he can take advantage of these aliens to benefit China. He turned back to the TV, he saw the president of russia Karol Morozov interviewed by the press about what his response and what he will do in contacting aliens, Hao smirks at the reporter's question, the Russian military is basically a shadow of what they should have been since their war with Ukraine in 2021, Ukraine basically hit Russia very hard, Russia lost 300 thousand personnel during the war and thousands of equipment and vehicles to Ukraine. basically the only thing keeping Russia relevant in the world is their massive nuclear arsenal. Hao picked up his remote and turned off the TV, tomorrow he will make a speech to the people of China in announcing the authorization of China's first contact operation named as 'Operation Dragon rides', he got up and went to his bedroom to rest. > Dinner > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement : Alright guys, the thing you've been waiting for is about to arrive, the next Chapter is about the first contact between humans and Equestrian, I will give you the choice to choose how it will turn out, There are 2 options, namely 'peace' and 'violence', between these two choices will slightly change the story, but the everything will still end the same, go to the comments section if you are interested in voting. =///Communication room, Canterlot\\\= It was 08:20 PM, in the communications room of Canterlot castle there was a purple Alicorn who had been spending the past 9 hours trying to translate a foreign language. There were piles of books standing on the table, scrolls lying on the floor, she was really exausting herself today. Twilight finally realized that apparently trying to translate a language was not an easy thing to do, because when she activates the communication transmitter that is usually used by the Equestrian government to keep communicating with other countries/kingdoms in Equus, she was bombarded with all kinds of gibberish-like words, it had so many dialects and tongues, after spending several hours listening to it she realized that this was not single language, but a collection of different languages. "Le président français a déclaré que le contact entre les États-Unis et les extraterrestres s'était déroulé sans heurts et pacifiquement, La France enverra sa propre flotte et essaiera également de contacter les extraterrestres" "日本政府は、平和に来ていることが証明されれば、外交使節を外国に派遣すると述べた. 内閣は、宇宙人がどのようにして空中に都市を建設できるかに非常に興味があると述べ、アニメの撮影に適した場所になるだろうと述べた" Die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin erklärte, dass sie wirklich an der Möglichkeit eines Handelsabkommens mit Außerirdischen interessiert seien, sie sagten, dies würde die „deutsche industrielle Überlegenheit gegenüber den Außerirdischen“ zeigen. "Pater meus abiit ut lac emeret in copia, sed tristis numquam rediit, Totum est quia frater meus refulsit et mater mea amplius cum eo concumbere recusat, quia senex est". She had spent hours listening to this transmission, trying to take notes and make sense of it. Some the language sound fancy and beautiful (French and Japanese), others sound strange (Chinese and Filipino), others sound scary and intimidating (Russian and German), but most of it sounds wierd and sometimes makes no sense (English and Spanish). She tried to use the language spell she found in the book, but it didn't work well. to translate this collection of languages ​​she needed something better, she needed a combination of multiple spells to translate this language. After several failures she managed to create a new spell, a combination of language spells and sound waves spells. but unfortunately this new spell is not perfect, and this spell is really not very magic energy efficient. She might need another 9 hours to perfecting and refine this spell, she planned to stay up all night and keep working until morning, until suddenly somepony came to her from behind, it turns out to be her friend Starlight, a former enemy who is now her best friend, she grabbed her nape and started massaging it, Twilight face is blushed over her friend actions, the two of them had been living together for a year now, initially this was because Trixe didn't seem like a very good friend, and also her cart apparently wasn't a very comfortable place to sleep. So Twilight offered her to stay in her castle, she spent the first week exploring and memorizing all the rooms in the castle, Twilight told her that she could stay here as long as she wanted, and after several months living there, she said that it was likely she would settle there permanently, i mean who the hell would refuse to live in a castle that's Beautiful/comfortable and made of crystal. The sequence from Starlight really relaxes her body, and after several minutes of being massaged by Starlight, Twilight snaps back to reality. "Errhh.. Starlight, can you plea--" "It's okay Twilight, you've been working all day, you need something to relax, and also it's time to have dinner with the princesses." "b-but I have to finish this first, because if not, I--" "Pssstt...no buts, You should take a break, you can continue refining the new spell tomorrow morning." And well, she was right, Twilight was really tired right now and she needed to rest, maybe the princess Celestia wouldn't mind, even though she said she needed this new spell asap. "Alright then, I don't think Celestia would mind waiting a bit longer for the new spell" "Well then, let's go to the dining area, The castile maid had already prepared dinner in the dining room." Twilight closed her book and turn off the communication transmitter and went with Starlight to the dining room, during the walk she could see the moon shining brightly in the night sky from the castle window. After a few minutes of walking, they ended up in the dining room, where they could see Celestia and Luna sitting in their seats, on the dinner table are all kinds of delicacy and food originating from all over Equestria province. White fully bread made of wheat from Ukrida, cheese from Itaily, wines from from Prance, oranges from Sapin, corn from Uhiu, Strawberry from Scoltland, Apples from Texon, Pineapple from the Fillypine, tofu from Moncoltlia, potatoes from Idahoof, rice from Japonies, Chocolate drink made from cocoa beans from Ethioponia, Eggs from Fillyvania, edible flower from Neigherlands, cashew nuts from Germane, vegetables from Manechusetts, durians from Maresia, waffles from Belgiem, bananas from Shirelanka, Olives from Turley, hays from Manesota, grape from Austaillia and more. In the past there was something called 'Bacon' that came from the province of New Mexicolt, it tasted really good but everypony stopped eating it once they found out what it was actually made of, not a single pony wants to eat that murderus product. Twilight went to sit on the seat that had been prepared, in an instant the maids served her with various kinds of food, she really didn't know where to start. After a few minutes, she finally chose to try the Apple Pie and Haybruger, it's really delicious, she also tried a drink, she took a Coltca-cola bottle and drank it. After she finished her drink, Celestia started to speak. "So Twilight, how's your work going?" "Erggh, going pretty well, i-i managed to create a new spell to start translating the foreign language, it's just that I need some time to perfect it and make it more efficient to use" Twilight said nervously. "Ohhh that sounds really good Twilight, when do you think it will finish?, because my council said if we don't open up trade soon, Equestria's economy could suffer a drastic downturn of up to 10%" "Hmm,..maybe tomorrow evening?" "Very well Twilight, this is going faster than I expected, I'll wait until tomorrow evening." "Okay princess." Celestia got off her seat and started to leave, probably to her room to sleep, while Luna still remained in her seat enjoying her wine from Prance, the wine she drank was special, this wine was over 100 years old and aged to perfection. She stared at the night sky through the window, she was still thinking about what Discord said, she knew that Discord words were often misleading, but even if only half of what he said was true, the natives on this planet were still basically a monster. In the past she was nicknamed as 'Blue Devil' after dropping a 1 klometer size moon rock from onto the Zebra Empire capital, but she doesn't care, Zebra intentionally kills her ponies and even intends to exterminate ponykind from Equus because they think they are superior. (Think of it as Equus version of the Holocaust.) Luna thought that if she could try to intimidate or show off her and her sister power they wouldn't try to attack or invade Equestria, there's a reason why no nation/kingdom dared to go to war with Equestria for over 1000 years, and no species would dare try to challenge the Equestrian, except maybe a Changeling, but that's because their queen is so reckless and stupid. She thought of showing off the entire fleet of Airship and her magic power to the natives, but she remembered that Celestia would likely disapprove of it, she had always acted weak in front of the delegates or diplomats from other countries. After thinking for a few minutes, Luna them looked at Twilight and Starlight, she could see them finishing their dessert, she could see Starlight feeding piece of cake into Twilight's mouth, they both are making out together really looks very cute, the magic of friendship is really effective in turning your enemy into your closest friend. After they finished their dessert, Twilight also looked sleepy from exhaustion because she had worked all day, and trying to digest dinner basically taking all the remaining energy in Twilight's body. She could see Twilight almost losing her balance when she was about to leave the dining room, luckily Starlight caught her with her telekinesis. She also carried Twilight body and took her out of the dining room to sleep in the bedroom that had been prepared for the both of them. After they left Luna finished her wine and went to the balcony of the castle to do her night duty. =/// Twilight private Bedroom, Canterlot Castle\\\= In one of the private rooms in Canterlot castle, a Unicorn enters carrying her close friend with her telekinesis, she put her in her bedroom and covered her with a blanket, after everything looks done Starlight intends to go to her own room which the castle maid has also prepared this afternoon, but apparently she wasn't the only one who felt really tired today, she had helped Twilight in looking for look for books on language spells, and also she spent several hours in recording data about the foreign language from the radio transmitter. and just like Twilight she ate so much food tonight, she ate so many Fried rice and Cheese Omelettes. She drained the last of her energy while using telekinesis to carry Twilight to her bed. Feeling that she would soon lose her balance soon, she tried to lie down on the same bed as Twilight, Twilight of course wouldn't mind if she slept with her for the night, she allowed her to stay in her castle after all. Starlight began to lie down beside Twilight, she took part of the blanket to warm herself, she could see Twilight's face closely, she looked really cute and beautiful, after a few minutes Starlight closed her eyes and began to sleep. =/// Meanwhele, Celestia Chamber\\\= Celestia was lying on her bed, even though her body was really tired from doing royal duty all day, she couldn't sleep because she kept thinking about what made Equestria Suddenly being teleported to another world, this wasn't the sort of villainess work she was used to before, why they bother about teleporting the ponies who should be in other countries/kingdoms to their homeland still confuses her, and also if this is indeed the villainess work, why would they teleport them to a planet like this, why they teleport them to an habitable planet and not some kind of planet full of lava or something. She closed her eyes and hoped to finally get to sleep, after a few hours later she finally fell asleep. But there was one thing wrong, she opened her eyes and saw that she suddenly found herself in an endless white place, she looked around and saw somepony, it was Alicorn, she is having a creamy white coat and long red hair, Celestia has spent her foalhood reading the bible and history book about how and where she and her sister came from to know who is she. "Mom?" The alicorn smiled, Celestia couldn't hold back her tears of joy, for so long she really hoped to finally meet her mother, Celestia quickly approached the Alicorn and hugged her, she really hoped that this wasn't some kind of dream made by Luna. The alicorn hugged Celestia back with its wings, they kept hugging each other for several minutes until finally Celestia started to speak. "I finally found you, I know that you are not a made-up figure from the Bible!" "Yes, I'm really indead real, I'm really proud of what you and your sister have accomplished." Celestia hugged her even more. "We only do what's best for the ponykind, and try to maintain harmony in Equestria." "good, I always knew that you and your sister really the right pony to lead them to Harmony." "But...something happened a few days ago and I don't know why,..and wh-- "Pissstt, it's okay Tia, actually I was the one who did that, I was the one who summoned Equestria to another world" Celestia was surprised by her words, she then asked. "B-but, why?" "They need your help..." "Help for what?" "You will find out soon enough." The place was starting to glow bright and dazzling, but before Celestia could ask she suddenly woke up from her sleep. Celestia looked around her room and tried to remember what happened earlier, she remembered meeting her mother and she said that she was the one who did all this. Celestia looked at the clock and realized that it was time for her to raise the sun, she quickly got off her bed and started her duty as sun princess. =///Meanwhile\\\= Starlight began to wake up from her sleep, she opened her eyes to realize that she was suddenly in a rather 'inappropriate' sleeping position with Twilight, she tried to slowly resign her self from that unholy position, but unfortunately Twilight suddenly woke up from her sleep, both of their faces turned red, Twilight was silent and unable to say anything until... "I can explain, it's not what you think.." "It's okay Starlight, actually you make my sleep more comfortable, I've never slept this well before." Starlight's face got redder after Twilight said that. "Ohh, okay...erggh,..How about we get up and have breakfast?" "Yeah, sure." They also started to get off their seats and do their morning activities before finally going to the dining room for breakfast. =///Eastern pacific ocean\\\= As far as 987 kilometers from the Equestrian mainland, there is a fleet of warships, consisting of 13 ships, including the Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carriers, USS Theodore Roosevelt. Admiral Jordy Wilson was in the meeting room with the important crew on board, in the room there is also a diplomat named Alex collins, he will serve as the American Ambassador for the Aliens, he hoped the first contact would be peaceful, he was ordered to open diplomatic relations between America and the Aliens and maybe try to find out what happened to Hawaii. Around the world, especially in America, many people are eager to know what fate has befallen the Hawaiian and other Oceanic countries, they want to know what happened to them and hope that the aliens might be able to bring them back, and if they couldn't do it, the government asked him to ask for compensation, What?, you thing America is going to say nothing after losing one of their member states? NO. Alex saw Jordy open a file that showed the plan for the operation of Eagle Contact. "Alright, here's the plan, we're going to send a plane to scout one of their cities, try to take the data and photos we need, Once they are done, we will deploy our ship to dock near their port and start trying to contact their government." "And if they are aggressive?" one of the crew said. "But what if they don't understand what we mean?, what if they think that we are trying to attack them?" Other crew also asked him. "And then we'll defend ourselves, until we can understand their language." Jordy answers. "Alright then, by the way who shall we send first?" "I'll be sending out 1st fighter squadron, consisting of 6 F35s, I'm sure they'll be able to carry out the mission safely." "This will be the city we will visit, it is the largest city we find from satellite photos." *Shows a satellite photo of Manehattan* "And just in case, we also have to prepare 2nd and 3rd Fighter Squadron in case of an emergency." "Very well then, let's start the operation." Everyone in the room stood up and saluted one another, they then went to their respective posts, Admiral Jordy gave his orders to the flight crew to immediately prepare their planes. =///Moscow, Russian Federation\\\= President Karol Morozov is sitting at his desk, he is watching the news on the TV broadcasting live images of the first contact operation between the United States and the Aliens, he could see USS Theodore Roosevelt starting to launch some F35s into the air to begin scouting the alien continent. He squeezed the TV remote so hard it almost broke it, he earnestly hoped for the American fleet to be suddenly wiped off the face of the earth by aliens at this very moment. He actually really wanted to send his own fleet to try to contact the aliens, but because of the war that happened a few years ago, the black sea fleet was basically annihilated, first, they lost Moskova, then Kuznetsov and then Yakamov. With the war effort turning on them, the people overthrew the previous Russian President and replaced him with Karol Morozov, although anti-American at best he sat in the worst crisis Russia has ever experienced. Russia's downfall started when the Federal Republic of Chechnya declared succession and declared a third Islamic republic, and after that came a series of successions after successions. After Chechnya was Dagestan, to North Ossetia (which fought a brief war with Georgia over South Ossetia before finally ceding it to the Georgians.), then was the Tuvan Republic, Tartarstan, Ingushetia and Balkaria, and finally, the last two states to succeed would be Cherkessia and Adygea. Due to a sudden turn of events the Wagner Rebellion of 2026 occurred when the Russian government failed to pay any pension for the services, so in response the Mercenary's leader's son oversaw the creation of a mercenary state, doing this he followed his father's footsteps which resulted in the creation of a Mercenary nation, spanning from the Province of Bryansk from all the way to the remaining foothold of the Black Sea, the Krasnodor Province, it was there that Wagner ceased the remaining Black Sea fleet and then declared war on the Russian Federation, fearing for what might happen NATO organized a task force to support Russia to put down the rebellion in hopes of preventing nuclear terrorism. As for the Russian troops that were now backed into a corner by Ukrainian forces the entire frontline collapsed into a warlord era type warzone, with three area's being Controlled by Novvarsiya, the remanents of the Russian Army, and the Crimeans. Due to the desperate economic state of Russia, in 2027 a deal was reached to sell the entire region of Vladivostk to China in exchange for 700 billion dollars in ruble, China now grew bigger with a coast now extended up to the Sakhlin island. Followed this land deal Russia scored deals with Japan to sell them in exchange for a fair sums amount of money. The war devastated Russia if not destroyed it. And the war on its Neighbor Ukraine had devastating effects on the entirety of Eastern Europe with Belerus now fighting itself with Lukashenko and Liberal allies, as for Kaliningrad, it was quickly taken over by it's neighbor Poland, despite protests and threats made by Russia it eventually spiralled off like a flame. As for the enclave province of Abhaskia, it was quickly ceased by the Georgian army in a surprise operation that followed. Russia's economy for now is stable due to the land it gave away, but now with it being reduced to a mere minor power status despite nuclear deterrance, it has severely losts it's voice, although it still holds power in the UNSC, it had to recall all operations in Africa and the Middle East to reduce military budget, in result the chaos in the the regions spiralled out of control and civilwars are now rampant in Africa. And now He reduced to watching the news as there is nothing else to do for several minutes until for some reason the news channel that he watched, the 'Fox News' chose to start playing a very goofy song when the last plane finally took to the sky. "Americaaa..." ♫ "Americaaa..." 𝅘𝅥𝅮 "America, fuck yeah!" ♫ "Comin' again to save the motherfuckin' day, yeah." 𝅘𝅥𝅮 "America, fuck Yeah!" ♫ "Freedom is the only way, yeah Terrorists, your game is through 'Cause now you have ta answer to America, fuck yeah!" 𝅘𝅥𝅮 "So lick my butt and suck on my balls America, fuck yeah!" ♫ "Whatcha' gonna do when we come for you now." 𝅘𝅥𝅮 "It's the dream that we all share It's the hope for tomorrow (Fuck Yeah!)" ♫ Irritated by the song as it mocked the now destroyed Russian dominance, Karol throws the TV remote at his television screen and ends up destroying it. After that, he called his men to replace the broken television. =///Magidar Station, Fillydelphia\\\= It was 6:48 a.m., Jade Flash was eating her breakfast at her station, she enjoys a Haybruger with a bottle of Coltca-cola. Her shift time will be over soon and she will be able to go home soon, everything feels normal until... BEEP BEEP....BEEP BEEP. "Arrhhhh $hit, here we go again." She felt irritated by the continuous appearance of mysterious flying objects that kept appearing on his Magidar display, she ignored it because he thought it would be the same as before, where the strange object would immediately change its direction the moment it approached Equestrian airspace. But unfortunately for her, this time the mysterious object didn't change its course, instead continued to fly and eventually began to enter the Equestrian airspace. 'What the buck' he thought. "Unknown flight. This is Eastern Equestrian air traffic control center, (EETCC), You have entered Equestria airspace, please respond!" She kept repeating this several times, but they didn't answer, so she called the military to inform them about this aerial intrusion. =///Canterlot, Equestria\\\= Celestia was having breakfast, this time they were eating pancakes and not some kind of sumptuous meal that was usually served in castles. She could see Luna, Twilight and Starlight enjoying their meal, this morning was indeed peaceful, even so she still thinks about the things that happened last night, where he met his mother while she was sleeping. She says she is the one who brought them all here, but for what? She said they needed help?, but help for what? And also if they manage to help them with their problems will they finally be able to return to Equus? All these questions kept circling her head until one of the royal guards suddenly burst into the dining room with a bang. "What's wrong lieutenant?, you know we're having breakfast." "I'm sorry to disturb you Your highness, but there is an emergency." "What kind of emergency?" "There has been an aerial intrusion by a 6 unknown flying object in the eastern part of Equestria, Magadar station in Fillydelphia reported they're headed for Manehattan, and they'll be there in a several minutes." Luna spat out her coffee in surprise at the guard's words, and Twilight and Starlight choked on their food. Celestia's eyes opened wide and a sense of dread began to enter her body. The room was silent until Twilight started talking frantically. "No No No No,...I still haven't finished my spell, I should have continued in perfecting the spell last night, this was all my fault!" "It's okay Twilight, it's not your fault, all of this was unexpected, I'm also really surprised for them to come to us so soon." said Celestia "So what should we do?" Starlight ask "I think we should go to Manhattan, we don't know what they came for, and we have to prepare for the worst." Luna said. "Agreed, lieutenant, tell Admiral Sky Mustang to put 1st Airship fleet on standby, my sister and I will take care of this" Celestia ordered "Of course Your Highness, I will inform him of your order immediately" The guard left the dining room, the dread still remained in the room. "So how are we going to go to Manhattan, we will not be able to arrive on time if we use the train or Airship." "How about we just use teleportation?" Starlight suggested "But wouldn't teleporting yourself that far be really exausted, we don't know what abilities the Natives of this world have." said Luna "We can combine the energy of the four of us and teleport ourselves simultaneously, with that we can conserve our energy." "All right then, Twilight bring a copy of your new language spell, we're going to need it." "But princess, the spell is still not yet being perfected." "It's better than having nothing at all Twilight." Alright then princess, I'll quickly pack up everything right away." "Very well, we must hurry now". And in that way, January 5, 2029 will be remembered as the day humanity made contact with extraterrestrial civilization for the first time, this will bring about a permanent change to the course of human history, the earth will never be the same again since then. > Eagle contact > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement : I want to let you guys know that all the jokes I add are only for comedic and ironic reasons, everything is based off of memes I got from Twitter or YouTube, so please don't take it seriously, I just want to make a combination of Realism-Fantasy-Comedy type story, I am also not siding with any country in this story, and by the way, I am an Indonesian. =///Eastern Pacific ocean\\\= at 9 a.m. in the sky of the Pacific Ocean there are 6 objects flying in the air with supersonic speed, it is not a bird, nor is it a UFO, nor is it the Ohioans state government's secret weapon for world domination. It was apparently a 94,4 million dollar aircraft built by Lockheed Martin. Perfectly financed by American taxpayer money with absolutely 'no' corruption or scandal during its development stages. The F-35 Lightning II is the pinnacle of America's military-industrial complex, they spent 1.5 trillion dollars and 11 years to develop this aircraft, because the US Senate found out that spending taxpayer money on homelessness or public transportation is not very beneficial for them. The six planes fly in a 'V' formation, the pilots are ready to die to serve their country and become the first humans to contact the aliens, this was basically a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, their names would be permanently inscribed in the history books. Michael Klein is one of those brave pilots, he enlisted in the navy in 2021, one of his experiences was when he was deployed in the South China Sea, where he and his team helped the Philippine navy to expel Chinese destroyers that entered their maritime territory. He and his team are deployed on the most extraordinary mission of his life, where he will be one of the first humans to fly in the sky of the alien continent. "Overlords, this is Dagger 1, ETA to the unknown continent in 3 minutes" "Copy that Dagger 1, Procide towards the continent and settle at 1500 feet." "Understood." "Dagger 2, this is Dagger 1, activate please your Electro-Optical Targeting System." "Copy that Dagger 1, activating the Electro-Optical Targeting System." The Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) for the F-35 Lightning II is an affordable, high-performance, lightweight, multi-function system that provides precision air-to-air and air-to-surface targeting capability. "All right everyone, slow down to 600 miles per hour, and make no sudden maneuvers except to try to avoid a threat or collision." "Affirmative." "Dagger 1, this is Dagger 6, should we activate the weapon system?" "Negative Dagger 6, our mission is to peacefully scout the unknown continent, take some photos or gather data, and then return to the fleet." "But what if we get attacked, shouldn't we--." "Listen to Dagger 6, the top brass don't want to start a war with these aliens, the world is watching us, we better contact them peacefully or die trying." "Erk-, Affirmative." Michael and his Squardon kept flying for several minutes until they finally spotted something on the horizon. "Overlords, this is Dagger 1, we have visuals of the unknown continent, I think I saw some kind of structure on the coast." "Copy that Dagger 1, can you explain what kind of structure you see?" Michael uses the visual zooming feature with his helmet, the helmet in the F35 has advanced capabilities that can give pilots very good situational awareness, one of the features is being able to see an object/structure from a very far distance, he even has access to the X-ray feature where he is able to see through from his airplane. "It's some kind of a statue, wait-- The statue that Michael saw from his helmet had a really familiar color, so he zoomed in even further. What he saw was a statue that bore a very significant resemblance to an iconic statue on the American east coast. "is...is that statue of Liberty? oh god.." "Dagger 1, this is Overlords, could you repeat what you said?" "Overlords, this is Dagger 1, we found some sort of statue structure, the statue has a very similar resemblance to the Statue of Liberty, and the height of the statue appears to have been 310 feet" "Can you describe the similarity of the statue with the Statue of Liberty?" "Erggh, yes, the statue is made on some kind of island and has a green color, the difference is that the statue does not depict a human but, rather, a kind of horse... with wings and...horn?.." The statue that Michael saw was the statue of Harmony, it was a statue of Alicorn mare holding a torch in her right hoof, and in her left hoof she holds a 6 crystal similar to the element of Harmony crystal.The statue was built in 1073 CLD, seventy-three years after the Lunar Schism (Luna turned into Nightmare moon) The statue symbolizes the beginning of a new era of peace and harmony for a thousand years in Equestria. All materials and statues like copper and steel are made in Prance, the ponies took at least 9 years to complete the statue. "Dagger 1, please do not joke around, we are on the most important mission in American history, or I will have your ass on a slammer." "This is Dagger 5, I confirmed the existence of the structure." "This is Dagger 4, I also see the same structure, there is also some kind of city near the statue." "Copy that Dagger 4, Dagger 3, can you take some footage of the structure and the city please?" Dagger 3 then sent photos of the structure, everyone on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt was really shocked by what they saw. In the picture is the said statue, and nearby are dozens of skyscrapers and other modern buildings. But the two of the skyscrapers look really striking, the buildings are similar to the twin towers that were collapsed 28 years ago by some Saudi pilots. The Equestrian Trade Center (ETC) tower was built in 1973 CLD by the Tishmoon Realty & Construction Company, the building became the trade and commercial center in Manehattan the two towers are about 1368 feet high, this building is the second most iconic part of the Manehattan after the Statue of Harmony. Michael and his squadron are getting closer to the city, they also begin to take dozens of photos and videos of the city from their plane. Meanwhile, the citizens of Manehattan start to panic with the sudden arrival of some sort of iron dragon that let out a roar of lightning in the air from the east. This was because the Equestrians had never developed a concept of an airplane before, they only had an Airship for long-distance air travel. =/// Manehattan Citizen P.O.V \\\= "Wha-,..what the buck is that?" "Is it some kind of dragon?" "I've never seen a dragon like that." "Why doesn't it flap its wings? "It's Monsters!!" "Arrhhhh, runnn..." "Everypony, please stay calm." Manehattan Police Department (MPD) Personnel said. Michael and his Squadron circle the city of Manehattan like crows on the prowl, they fly low and slow so they can get detailed pictures of the creatures that live in the city. The roar of the jet engines hurt the ears of many ponies, especially the bat ponies, they also cracked some of the glass windows of several Manhattan skyscrapers. "Jezz, is that a horse?" "I think yes... This is really unexpected, I was expecting some kind of short bipedal creature with green skin." "But, how could they build a city with just a hoof?" "I don't know, scientists would spend a whole century studying this creature." "And by the way, why does this city look so similar to New York City? I thought the Chinese were masters of copycats, but it looks like I was wrong." "Maybe because they've been spying on us? the difference between this city and the Chinese copycat is that the building does not look lifeless." "Yeah you're right, hardly anyone lives in that fake Chinese city." =/// Canterlot castle \\\= The princesses packed up anything they might need and prepared to teleport themselves to Manehattan. Twilight and Starlight packed up copies of their new spell, Celestia prepared a bunch of files with a brief explanation of Equestria and its history and also its industrial capabilities, for diplomacy and possible trade deals. Meanwhile, Luna was preparing her toys that had been kept in the armory for a long time. "Luna, I told you not to bring your halberd in this matter." "I don't want to take any chances, they're invading our airspace, and there's a high chance they're hostile." "Arhh fine... just don't try to start a war with them okay?" "As long as they don't attack us first, everything is fine." "Great, by the way, Twilight, have you prepared a complete copy of your new language spells?" "I actually named it 'the universal translation spell', and yes, I have prepared a copy of it." "Good, now let's start teleporting to Manehattan." Air intrusion like this rarely happens in Equestria, the last time it happened was 30 years ago when dozens of dragons entered Equestria territory without permission and burned some farmland for no reason, which made Luna have to go to the Dragonlands to slap the dragon lords in the ass and demand huge amount of gold for compensation. The four ponies stood close to each other, they began to channel their energy into their horns and then cast a teleportation spell, and with a flash of light they all disappeared. =///Downtown Manhattan\\\= In the midst of panic among the citizens of Manehattan, a flash of light suddenly appeared and three Alicorns and one Unicorn appeared in the middle of the street. The ponies who noticed the arrival of their leader/demigods immediately bowed before them. For the ponies, Alicorn is not only the political leader of their country but also their religious leader. It was a beautiful site for Celestia to have her subjects bow before her every time she saw them, the scene never gets old although it has been repeated for more than 2 thousand years, but unfortunately, the site didn't last long, the roar of the fighter jets circling the city made the ponies start to panic again. Celestia looked up at the sky and what she saw frightened her, some kind of strange object shaped like an arrowhead that let out roars like thunder and spit fire from their ass flew above the city. But before she said anything, Luna suddenly flew into the air with a speed that would make Rainbow Dash look like an amateur. "LUNA WAIT!--,,..Twilight stay here with Starlight, I'll follow Luna." "Okay princess." Celestia flew herself into the air to catch up with Luna, it had been quite a while since the last time she flew at supersonic speed, the last time she flew this fast was when she fought against the Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago. Meanwhile "Erggh... Dagger 1, this is Dagger 3, I think we made the population to panicking." "But...why, have they never seen a fighter jet before?" "Speaking of jets, weren't they supposed to send out some kind of interceptor? I don't detect anything on my radar." "I think we should--" Before Michael finished his words a blue trail flew at supersonic speed and almost hit his plane. "shit, what the fuck is that?" "Dear God I had to open my fat mouth..." "A missile?" "Negative Dagger 1, it's some kind of...HORSE?" Luna started to turn around and quickly dashed towards Michael's plane. "Oh fuck, Dagger 1, WATCH OUT!" A kind of blue aura suddenly surrounds Michael's plane and the plane suddenly begins to come to a sudden stop, Michael had his face smashed into his cockpit avionics, were it not for his seatbelt and helmet he would probably have died. "Damn, what the hell is this?" Michael tries to activate his plane Afterburner, but the plane doesn't move at all, some kind of unknown force grabs the plane and holds it in position. "Dagger 1, this is Dagger 2, what happened to your plane?" "I don't know, some kind of blue aura caught my jet, I lost control of my plane." "Argh shit,.. Overlords, we have a situation--..." =/// Meanwhele on USS Theodore Roosevelt \\\= The crew on the USS Theodore Roosevelt were stunned by what they saw, first was a statue that looked a lot like the Statue of Liberty and city itself which has a significant resemblance to New York City. They don't know if it's some kind of coincidence or some kind of copycat job like China. They also finally got a clear picture of the creatures that inhabit this continent, a kind of colorful horses with wings or horns on their bodies. Admiral Jordy Wilson was really interested in how they could build a city with just their hoof. All of the missions run until some sort of blue tail flies at supersonic speed and almost crashes one of their planes, at first they thought it was some kind of missile until Dagger 3 sent live images of the mysterious object or creature. Some kind of blue horse with wings and horns somehow caught the Dagger 1 aircraft by emitting some sort of blue aura from its horns. 'What kind of technology is this?' everyone in the room thought. They had never seen anything like that before, the only thing they could relate to was the Jedi Force power from Star Wars. "Overlords, this is Dagger 4, what should we do?" "This is Overlords, do not engage, I repeat, do NOT engage, over!" "Overlords, This is Dagger 3, I'm spotting the other bogey." Dagger 3 turned his EOTS camera at another creature that was flying toward them, but this time it didn't try to catch another one of their aircraft. but instead went to the position of the blue creature that captured the Dagger 1 plane. =/// In the sky of Manehattan \\\= Celestia quickly flew towards Luna where she caught one of the 'iron dragons' with her telekinesis. She saw that the other 'iron dragons' were still circling the city, and she was really worried that Luna's behavior would actually cause a war between Equestria and the natives of this world. "LUNA, Stop! What do you think you are doing?" "Tia, these 'creatures' intruded into our airspace and frightened our subjects!" Luna was right, the Americans had essentially entered Equestrian airspace without permission and caused panic among the citizens of Manehattan. If they did this to a normal country on earth it could create an international incident. (For example: Russia) Their plane would be shot down with SAM and the pilot would be captured and sent to Brazil for punishment. But since Equestria status is still not considered a country by any other nation on Earth yet, the Americans are technically allowed to fly over their territory without permission. "Just look at these creatures Tia, I seriously doubt they're even alive at all." Celestia also looked at the creature, the creature had gray-black skin, its body was stiff and it didn't have a mouth or even eyes. A creature that has 6 wings, 2 big wings in front and 4 small wings to its tail, but strangely they didn't flap at all, the creature also spewed a kind of fire behind its body, Celestia could also see some kind of strange symbol on its wings, some kind of star symbol surrounded by a circle. The creature basically looked really lifeless but not completely dead either, Celestia then tried to cast a spell and try to scan the creature, she could detect electricity and some kind of internal combustion inside the creature's body, she scanned further, and she detected some kind of biological being inside the creature body, she could sense the fear, anger, confusion, and...curiosity? Inside creature's body. She really wondered how a creature like this could even exist, a sort of hybrid between a mechanical and a biological construct, but that is a question for Twilight and her marefriend to answer later, for now, she must try to de-escalate the situation. "Luna, please release the creature." "Wha--..why?" "Listen, Luna, we still haven't even been a week since we came to this world, I don't want you to start a war with whatever this creature is, we know nothing about them!." Luna originally wanted to refuse, but Celestia was right, going to war without knowing anything about your enemy was not a very wise decision, so she had no choice but to free the creature. =/// Meanwhile \\\= "They're talking between each other?" "Yeah, I don't understand what they're talking about though." "Maybe they're talking about a better way to kill you? The blue one carries a kind of halberd." "Nice joke Dagger 4, I don't think they would--" Suddenly the blue aura holding Michael's plane suddenly disappeared, and the plane was immediately able to move again, which caught him off guard, Michael almost fainted because of the sudden acceleration, and his plane almost crashed into a building due to stalling, but fortunately he managed to recover from the situation. "holy shit, I didn't see that coming." "Overlords, this is Dagger 2, the aliens have released Dagger 1." "Copy that Dagger 2, all Dagger Squadron members, retreat back to the fleet, we're done here." "Copy that Overlords, all Dagger Squadrons R.T.B. Over." Michael and his Squadron withdrew from Manehattan, they activated their Afterburners, and quickly disappeared into the horizon. "Damn, I can't believe that you're going to be taken hostage by an alien horse, fortunately, I put my GoPro in my cockpit to immortalize that moment." "SHUT UP!" Michael said. =/// Manehattan \\\= "See, they are retreating." "I think you're right, but that doesn't mean they can go scot-free like that, I will send out an Airship to find out where they are coming from and hold them responsible for this aerial intrusion." "Huh... alright then, let's get back to the surface, we have so many panicking ponies to be calmed today." Celestia and Luna then descended back to the surface, where the citizens of Manehattan cheered for their Princess who managed to drive away the 'iron dragon' flying over the sky of Manehattan. Celestia and Luna went to the city mayor's building to make an announcement about the area intrusion that happened that day and how they'll attempt to investigate where the iron dragon came from. Immediately they were surrounded by hundreds of reporters and journalists that bombarded them with millions of questions. The news about the aerial intrusion by these strange creatures spread throughout Equestria like wildfire, all garrisons and airship fleets began to be mobilized to guard all major cities on the coast of Equestria. Meanwhile, Luna deploys the 1st and 2nd Airship fleet to try to guard Manehattan and trace where the creature came from, which the Local Magidar Station and the Magidar Detector tool on the Airship show that they detected some sort of fleet of ships at least 898 kilometers from Equestria. Equestria will show natives that they are not the kind of nation that can be easily underestimated. =///Washington D.C.\\\= In a secret basement beneath the White House, President Adam Wright and many important people in the United States government gather to discuss the result of the first contact. Even though it didn't end the way they had planned, at least things ended peacefully. With this, the second stage of Operation Eagle contact can finally begin. "So this is the target?, this city has a very similar appearance to the New York City from 3 decades ago." President Adam asks. "Yes, Mr President, based on satellite results, this is their largest city, so we'll get their government's attention easily." "So, when will the fleet reach their shores?" "Based on the speed at which the fleet was moving, they should arrive in 18 hours, we are sure that there will be no incidents that will disrupt the operation." "Speaking of the incident, what happened to one of the Squadron members that got his plane captured by some kind of weird blue aura, how did the Alien do that?" "We still don't know sir, there is a possibility that these aliens have some kind of technology that we still don't know/understand, and about the pilot, he was fine, he just had a light injury due to the plane sudden acceleration the moment he was released from the strange blue aura." "Alright then, by the time the fleet begins to approach the coast of their city, I want all ships on alert, just don't want to have my men taken as hostages again." "Understood, Mr President." Everyone in the room stood up and saluted the president before leaving the room, meanwhile, Adam looked back at the files brought by the defense secretary, in the file contained a picture of the physical appearance of the alien, they looked like colorful quadruple horses with horns and wings. He originally thought they would really look hideous like they used to show in the movies he used to watch as a child, but at least he was grateful they didn't look like monsters and had been nice enough not to shoot down the plane the US sent into their territory. 'Can't wait to see them on the R34.' he thought. He then closed the file and started to go to his private room to rest. As the cabinet left, a General within this room regarded this meeting with vicious intent. =///Manehattan\\\= Twilight was sitting in one of the rooms in the Manehattan public library, she was trying to perfect her new spell, and this time she didn't take any time to rest, she didn't want to be caught unprepared again when the natives of this world come again, she and her universal translation spell will be ready. Since the aerial infiltration in the sky of Manhattan occurred, she and the other princess decided to have stayed there to keep watch and try to track down where these strange creatures came from, they said some kind of unknown fleet was detected and was heading towards Manehattan, the Magidar station officers said they would be arriving in Manehattan shore tomorrow, Princess Celestia and Luna has prepared and mobilized the 1st and the 2nd Airship fleets to protect Manehattan from possible attacks. The two fleets consist of 30 Airships 2 Princess-Class Airship, EAS Celestia, EAS Luna. 12 Provisional-Class Airship, EAS Neigherlands, EAS Neigh York, EAS Mareland, EAS Califoalnia, EAS Germane, EAS Ukrida, EAS Ethioponia, EAS Kurea, EAS Mareocco, EAS Fillyvania, EAS New Zaeland, EAS Austaillia. 16 City-Class Airship, EAS Canterlot, EAS Foaledo, EAS Tokye, EAS Fillydelphia, EAS Manechester, EAS Faris, EAS Horsululu, EAS Whinnyapolis, EAS Stalliongrad, EAS Los Pegasus, EAS Sydniy, EAS Manilu, EAS Manehattan, EAS Trottingham, EAS Roma, EAS Seaddle. All of the Airships were floating above the city, casting shadows on the city below. Ponies are advised to stay in their house or apartment for a while. After spending several hours perfecting the spell, at 9 p.m., Twilight finally managed to complete it. After that, Twilight collected her spell sheets and put them on the book cover and named them 'The Universal Translation Spell', she used her magic to make dozens of duplicates of the book so all the information could be easily found in libraries all over Equestria. Duplication spell is a very rare magic, only Alicorns and high leveled and trained Unicorns are capable of casting it. "I hope this time the spell will work." Twilight got off her seat and put the books in the library back in place, she left her new book at the local librarian's desk so they could distribute her books, and she kept at least one copy of the new spell for her use. She then goes to the hotel that Celestia had ordered for her temporary stay in Manehattan, there she finds Starlight playing with some 'interesting' toy that she bought in the Manehattan Red-light district. Good thing that no pony saw them together in that room. (Or so she thought) They both had a very fun night together. > Uncle Sam is coming!!! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement : I wanted to let you guys know that I'm having trouble finding a good editor to help me with this story, all I've come across is unprofessional and charging exorbitant fees of up to 40-160$ just to edit 1 page, even though I only asked for help fixing simple wording and grammatical stuff not some kind of Leonardo da Vinci style of writing. So if any of you are interested in being my editor, you are always welcome to contact me. By the way, once again, please don't take the jokes/meme in this story seriously. =///Eastern Pacific Ocean\\\= it was 9:47 am in the Pacific Ocean, only a few dozen kilometers from the Equestrian mainland, there was the Carrier Strike group led by Admiral Jordy Wilson, all the ships in the fleet were moving at 32 knots towards the alien continent, and all the crew in the fleet were feeling nervous, this is because they have never participated in a mission like this before, in the past, their missions would have been to patrol the international oceans. They never expected they would be deployed on a mission to make the first contact with extraterrestrial beings that suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific with the giant continent. This expedition did not only carry military personnel but also included civilian personnel, they at least brought dozens of scientists including linguists, biologists, physicists, astrophysicists, mathematicians, and more with them. One of the civilian personnel brought on this mission was Alex Collins, he will become the American ambassador for the Aliens, he and the other personnel on board received multiple doses of the vaccine shot to strengthen their immune system, but unfortunately, the side effect of the vaccination is made him and the other personnel feel very nauseous and dizzy, he hoped this would not cause any problems when he contacted the aliens. This mission is expected to last several months as linguists will need several weeks just to understand the alien languages, so that's why they brought at least two supply ships and one hospital ship to resupply them and just in case the personnel gets infected by a virus or disease from aliens. He was sitting in one of the chairs on the bridge of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, from there he could see foreign landmasses only a few kilometers from the fleet, the crew on board were busy keeping their eyes on their monitors, and the situation on board became tense when the radar officers began detecting flying objects just minutes from the flotilla. At first, they thought it was a plane interceptor, because yesterday they had infiltrated their airspace without permission, but the radar operator said the object was too large for an aircraft. By the time they approached the visual range of the flying object, all the crew aboard were stunned by what they saw, a sort of gigantic Airship majestically flying in front of them. The Airship was around 500 meters in size, the airship had a white hull color with golden hues, and the crew compartment looked surprisingly smooth by having a waterdrop-like design, the Airship they saw was the Princess-Class Super Airship, the EAS Celestia. the admiral on board ordered all ships to stay alert, they had their VLS cells and their defense system ready. The admiral ordered the captain to activate the ship's horn and send transmissions across all radio frequencies to attempt to contact whoever was on the Airship, they also tried to transmit light signals in case they didn't receive the transmission. "This is USS Theodore Roosevelt of the United States Navy, we come in peace, please don't shoot, we just want to open contact with you peacefully." After several minutes of silence, they finally received a response from the Airship. "This is EAS Celestia of the United Kingdom of Equestria, we received your transmission, please have your ship follow us to the nearest seaport." Everyone on the bridge was stunned by what they heard, yes, they hoped to receive a reply from the transmission they sent, but not in English. 'How could they understand English?' they all thought. Either they have spied on the earth for a long time to understand human language or they have some kind of supercomputer that can decipher language in just a few days, they don't know how they manage to do that. Despite that, the Admiral maintained a stoic face and ordered all ships to begin following the Airship. "All ships, follow the Airship, deactivate all your weapon systems, they will guide us to their nearest port," he said on the intercom. All the ships started following the Airship Equestrian, they lowered their speed to match their speed with the Airship. 'United Kingdom huh? I hope they have an actual immortal monarch, unlike those poor British,' Jordy thought to himself After a few minutes of joining the Airship, they were greeted by the existence of the Statue of Harmony and the city of Manehattan on the horizon, the crew on board rushed off the deck to take a look at the structure, they took out their cameras and cellphones to take pictures of the view and start to spread it on social media because the crew in the fleet had recently been deficient in Vitamin C a.k.a Vitamin Clout. Due to the internet access provided by the Starlink network, they started posting videos and pictures on their social media accounts, all the pictures and videos they took spread across the internet like wildfire, and the whole world was stunned by what they saw, a statue that resembled the statue of liberty and a city that was really similar to New york city from 2001. Alex Collins also takes several pictures of the city with his cell phone, most notably the Twin Towers which resemble the WTC, he sends the pictures to his old colleagues who live in New York. (Alex's old colleague's reaction) They began to approach the harbor and began to maneuver to start docking their ships there. By the time they finished pushing, they were greeted by the whole division of horses, some had wings, some had horns and some had none at all, they all were wearing some kind of gold-planted armor, and in front of them were four horses, three of which had horns and wings while the fourth had only horns. Two of them have a body size that reaches 7 feet high (Including the horns), one of them has a white coat and the other one is blue, they had their hair floating in the wind and sparkling like stars. The crew of USS Theodore Roosevelt descended from the deck, Admiral Jordy Wilson, American Ambassador Alex Collins, and linguist Molly Ortiz became the first humans to set foot on Equestria. Ambassador Alex was the first to speak. "Greetings, my name is Alex Collins from the United States of America, we come in peace." Equestrian's P.O.V. At the Manehattan harbor Celestia could see several gigantic ships docking their ships, all of the ships appeared to be made of steel, some looked larger than the others, the one that caught her eye the most was the largest ship in the fleet, the ship has a flat deck and a strange tower on the side, there she could see dozens of strange flying creatures that had frightened the citizen of Manehattan yesterday placed on the deck of the ship. She could also notice some sort of strange bipedal creature in strange clothing standing on the deck, their body is devoid of fur, everything except their eyebrows and head, making them look like some configured version of the Minotaur. As they began to anchor their ships in the port of Manehattan, Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Starlight also took their positions at the front, behind them were at least three Royal Guard divisions standing guard in phalanx formation. They all have spears, swords, and shields at the ready. After the giant iron ship docked in the harbor, she saw some kind of strange elevator being lowered into their position, there she could see the three bipedal creatures accompanied by at least ten individuals holding some kind of strange black staff in their hands, she assumed that they might be some sort of guard, but none of them were wearing armor but instead were wearing some kind of strange fabric with a strange green-brown pattern. (Something like this) As they started to get off the elevator via ladder, one of them started talking, luckily Twilight had cast her language spell a few minutes ago so she could understand what they were saying. "Greetings, my name is Alex Collins from the United States of America, we come in peace." The word 'peace' made Celestia, and some of the onlookers, let out a short sigh of relief, she was grateful to know that they had no intention of invading Equestria, her sister meanwhile gave the alien a face of skepticism. Before Luna tried to get some kind of Horse$hit from her mouth, she quickly responded to the alien's words. "My name is Celestia Radiants, Princess of the sun, welcome to Equestria, can you tell me your intention of coming here?" "On behalf of the 47th President of the United States of America, we want to establish an open diplomatic relationship with your nation and conduct research in the name of science." The words 'research' and 'science' made Twilight look really excited, Celestia could see her wings starting to flutter and she let out an impatient smile. She was sure Twilight and her marefriend would spend a whole month studying their biology, culture, and magic. Celestia wanted to reply right away, but unfortunately, before she could say anything Luna said something. "My name is Luna Night Given, princess of the night, if you do come in peace, can you explain why you brought the entire fleet of ships with you?" As much as Celestia wanted Luna's face to be smacked into the ground and have her mouth to be covered by tape, she's actually spitting out a valid point. Why did they bring the entire fleet with them? A fleet of ships that looked entirely made of iron and steel, it didn't look diplomatic or even scientific at all. The strange creature immediately answered. "It was for security purposes, we didn't know who you were and your continent suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, our leader wanted to take several precautions when contacting you." That sounded totally reasonable, the Equestrians would also definitely send their own fleet of Airship if an alien continent suddenly appeared behind their backyard. Celestia could see Luna's skeptical face start to disappear, even though not all of it, at least it would silence her for a while. The reason why Celestia didn't intervene with her sister's questions was because Celestia didn't want to make her sister upset again, she didn't want to create another Equestrian schism. "Then I will gladly welcome you and your crew to the city of Manehattan, we can start making a schedule on talking about establishing diplomatic relations and explaining how our nation ended up here." She suddenly caught one of their lips trembling for two seconds after Celestia answered them, she didn't know the reason why, but she felt it was better to ask a question for another time. "Thank you for your hospitality, we are more than happy to follow your instructions." And so the crew on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and other US ships began to disembark from their ships, they were allowed to look around but not too far from the harbor, meanwhile the diplomatic team with several marines for escort were directed to follow them to a local hotel and begin their scheduling for their meetings. Because the carriages used in Manhattan were too small to accommodate humans, the Americans had to walk and follow the 'equestrian' into the city, as they walked, Alex could see that the Inhabitants of the city were looking scared, and worried when they looked at them, they all had different coat colors from each other, almost all of them were not wearing any clothes at all, but they still wear things like hats, scarves, and glasses for some reason. (Average Manehattan citizen) When the American diplomatic team began to enter downtown Manhattan, they couldn't hold back their surprised and stunned faces, the city was very similar to New York City. It's not just the old buildings that are similar, the products advertised on boards are really similar to American products, they can see products that are similar such as. Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Pepsi, Sprite, Subway, KFC, and more. They even saw a restaurant similar to Los Pollos Hermanos down the road, The Marines and some of the diplomatic staff took several photos with their cellphone cameras. One of the things that caught their attention was the flag that was hoisted in the center of the city, the flag is very similar to the American national flag, and he and the Marines pointed their cameras there to take some photos of the flag. They all think this is because the aliens took inspiration for their national flag from the American flag itself, what they don't know is, that the flag is actually the flag of the United Province of Coltlombia, the flag is used to symbolize all the provinces in the Coltlombia region. (Almost like this) Because in 0776 CLD the province of Coltlombia tried to carry out a rebellion to achieve independence, and this flag became the flag to symbolize their movement, but this rebellion didn't last long, when Princess Luna started to intervene the rebellion basically vanished, but the flag did not disappear and several years later when the Alicorn princesses began to give special autonomy to the provinces of coltlombia and other regions, this flag was adopted as the official flag of the region of Coltlombia. As they walked for a few minutes, one of the horses, which had horns and wings with a purple coat, started asking questions. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, may I ask you some questions?" "Yes, of course." "What is the name of your species? How can you build a ship that big out of steel and make it move without moving sails? Are there other species that also live on this planet? What are those strange square devices that you holding? What are-- "Woah-woah, please one by one, I can't answer all of them at the same time." "Oh, I'm sorry, okay, what's your species name?." "There are many names, but the most common is 'Human'." "Okay hoo-maen, erggh, how can you build a ship that big with steel and make it move on the water without sails?" "I don't really know, I'm not an engineer, but what I do know is that we have a dry dock and a very large infrastructure to accommodate and build a ship of that size, and for how the ship can move without sails, we use two A4W nuclear reactors, housed in separate compartments, the resulting steam spins four propeller shafts engine that is installed under the ship's hull." "Interesting, that means your country has a large industrial capacity, next question, what other species live on this planet?" "There are millions of species on planet Earth, but we are the only ones who have sentients." This answer stunned Twilight, having heard that they were the only sentient beings on this planet, Twilight originally thought that there should be at least a few other sentient species living on this planet like those on Equus, this made her nervous. "O-okay, so then that means you are the sole dominant species on this planet, can you explain what strange devices you are holding?." "This device is called a handphone, this tool is used to communicate with other individuals from a long distance, there are also several other capabilities of this tool such as taking photos, playing music, watch videos, and can even do mathematical calculations." "Oh wow, how does the magic work, what kind of magic crystal is that powering the devices?." The question that the purple horse said made Alex make a 'seriously?' look on his face. He was also confused as to what she meant by 'magic crystals', magic was basically just a myth that made no sense to him. "I'm sorry, I don't know what kind of 'magic crystal' you're talking about, but this device is powered by electricity stored in lithium batteries." "Oh... well, last question, what is that black stuff that your guard is holding, it doesn't look like any kind of weapon, and why do they use strange fabric clothes in a green-brown pattern? aren't they supposed to carry proper weapons like swords or spears and wear armor to protect you?" Those words made the marines have their faces facing the purple horse with a confused expression, he wanted to say something, but before he could say anything, one of the marines took a step towards the purple horse. "I'm sorry, but I think you are misunderstood, this is not some kind of simple black staff, this is a projectile weapon, this weapon is used to propel projectile at high speed via chemical explosion, the viscosity and heat of this projectile became its destructive elements, its penetration capability is very high and makes conventional steel armor basically useless, and about our uniform, this is called the camouflage pattern, this is to deceive the enemy as to the presence, position and intentions of military formations!" That answer made the purple horse's eyes widen, Alex could also see the horse with a white and blue coat had their ears standing up like a cat's, most likely because they eavesdropped on their conversation. There's no reason to withhold information about how guns work, it's open knowledge that almost everyone on Earth knows. He could see the purple horse getting more nervous and he also could see a kind of fear in its eyes. "O-oh, T-thank you f-for the i-information, Mr--.. "Sergeant Ruben Irwin of the 89th Marine Battalion." Oh, thank you, Mr. Ruben, for the information, I really appreciate it." "No problem." Sergeant Ruben returned to his position and spoke again with his subordinate, their journey was calm and without any problem. After about 12 minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the mayor's building, he could see hundreds of horses carrying some kind of camera, he assumed that they were reporters or journalists. As they entered the building, he and the other humans were bombarded with millions of questions from those colorful horses. "Hello Alien, is it true that you come in peace?" "What food does your race eat?" "Have you aliens ever abducted fillies?" "What god do you worship?" "Are aliens interested in art? "What kind of clothes do you wear?" "Do aliens like pineapple pizza?" That last question made Alex want to loudly shout ' FUCKING NO!' and do massive rampages like the average Italian after they hear about pineapple pizza because for him pineapple pizza is really disgusting and unholy. But since this was an important diplomatic mission, he suppressed his emotions and tried to ignore their questions. He and the other humans immediately rushed into the mayor's building before they were completely surrounded by a sea of ​​reporters. After they finally entered the mayor's building, the door was immediately closed by the Royal Guard, Celestia directed the humans into the meeting room to strike up a conversation with the American ambassador. Meanwhile, all of their escorts except for two will remain on guard outside the room, when they started to enter the meeting room, Celestia with her teleportation spell took a document containing a file that would explain basic knowledge about Equestria and its history. The equestrian economic downturn is apparently far worse than her council predicted, a 20% economic downturn in just 15 months is putting her feathers on edge, this is because a large part of the Equestrian economy is exporting goods and natural resources to other countries, and since their trading partners are gone, Equestria must find new customers to keep its economy from collapsing. After Celestia felt ready for the document, she entered the meeting room, there the ambassador from the country they called 'America' sat there with his colleague. They wore a kind of black suit with a blue tie, they sat there with cold gazes facing Celestia. 'Oookaay, remember Celestia, think of it as a meeting with normal ambassadors in Equus, keep your face straight and act normal.' Celestia said to herself. Celestia sat on her chair, on her left was Luna, and on her right were Twilight and Starlight, Celestia's arrival made the situation in the room somewhat awkward, this had never happened before, the last time this happened was during negotiations between Equestria and the Zebranica empire about a border skirmish several decades ago. The awkwardness of the room lingered for a few seconds until the American ambassadors broke its silence. "Soo.., can we start the discussion now?" "Oh... yes, of course, let me give you a brief explanation about Equestria and its history." "AHEM" The United Kingdom of Equestria is a unitary state with devolution that is governed within the framework of a provincial democracy under an absolute monarchy in which the monarch, currently Princess Celestia Radians, Princess Luna Night Given, and Twilight Sparkle is the current ruler, Equestria was founded on January 2, 0001 CLD on the continent of Equestria, with a total population of 327 million ponies, our country became the most dominant economy in Equus, being the largest production, trade and commercial center in the world, our country's annual income is 5,8 trillion bits, with an average income of about 20.300 bits per year, the country exports a wide range of products ranging from natural resources to manufactured goods," Celestia explained. "For more detailed knowledge, here is a longer explanatory document about our country." Celestia then gave the document to the American ambassador with her hoof, and they spent several minutes reading a more detailed explanation about Equestria, after they finished reading Ambassador Alex then started to speak. "This is a very good explanation, Your Majesty, your country is basically more wealthy than the average nation on Earth, but can you explain why and how your country came to Earth too?" "Eerrrhh, we didn't actually know how, we didn't come willingly, it happened a few days ago when suddenly a flash of light engulfed all of Equestria for a few seconds, and suddenly we found ourselves in another world." "B-but that's impossible!! How could an entire continent suddenly be teleported to another world?." "As I said before, we don't know, we are trying to find out how but still haven't found anything." "S-so, what happened t-to Hawaii?" Alex's colleague asked. "Erggh,.. I'm sorry, but what is Hawaii?" Alex also took a paper containing a map of the Pacific Ocean before the teleportation occurred, there Celestia saw a very large ocean between two giant continents, there she spotted a kind of small archipelago located in the middle of the ocean. Alex then pointed his finger at the small archipelago. "This is Hawaii, it's one of the member states of our country, and its population reached 1.6 million people, when the time of your sudden arrival to our planet, we suddenly lost all communication and contact with Hawaii." "We're sorry to hear that, we didn't intend to suddenly make Hawaii disappear, I hope they will be fine, there was a high chance that they teleported to Equus." "Huh.... we hope so too... Is there going to be a way to try to bring them back to Earth?" "We don't know, we will try to investigate, if there is a way to bring them back, we will let you know if you find anything." Celestia actually knew how and the reason why they were suddenly teleported to the planet that this configured minotaur called Earth, but she didn't tell them because she knew there was no chance they would believe her, there was no way she would say that 'My mother is a god, and she decided to suddenly teleported to our continent because she said the native of this world needs our help', even for the creatures of Equus, almost none of them believes in the existence of Faust. "Alright then, also I want to tell you that your nation's sudden arrival made countries all over the world panic, they thought that your nation was trying to invade our planet." "Can you tell other countries that we came peacefully and have no intention of invading any country, my country is pacifist." "There are more than 195 countries in this world, some are our allies, and some are our enemies, so we are not sure that everyone will believe us unless it is said from yourself." Ambassador Alex's words made Celestia, Twilight, and Starlight dumbfounded, even Luna who had been silent all this time lifted her eyebrows. "That's really a lot of countries... h-how can we should tell them all that we are peaceful?" "There's an organization named the 'United Nations' where almost all world country representatives come and discuss something about global matters, we believe that if you come there you can better explain your situation to the whole world, we can invite you to come there because, in a few days, there will be a meeting to discuss your nation sudden arrival to earth." "We will gladly accept your invitation and come there, can you tell me when the meeting will take place? I will gladly go there and say it myself that we have no intention to harm the natives of this world." "The meeting will be held in 3 days, we can have one of our ships export you to the United Nations headquarters in New York City." "Alright then, I'll clear my schedule to get ready to go there in three days, for now you and your personnel are allowed to stay in Equestria for research and scientific purposes, and regarding the opening of diplomatic relations we will provide a building for a consulate in the capital city of Canterlot, we can discuss something like trade and other agreement once the diplomatic contacts and communication are properly established." "Thank you for your hospitality, we will send a message to our leader." "No problem, I'll have Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friend to accompany you and your personnel for a tour throughout the city of Manehattan, I'd also like to invite you to dinner at the local plaza." "We will gladly accept your invitation, Your Majesty." With that Celestia left the room and was quickly joined by Luna, meanwhile, Twilight and Starlight led the humans out of the building to tour the city and make their way back to their ship. On the way Celestia left the meeting room, Luna approached her sister to talk. "Sister, are you sure we can trust this strange disfigured minotaur?" "Luna, they've been acting civil here, even more so than the minotaur itself, I'm sure we can trust them." With that, the two Alicorn sisters went outside the mayor's building to face the reporters and explained that the humans came to Equestria in peace and Celestia plans to visit the UN headquarters in New York City in a few days. Meanwhile Twilight can't wait to accompany the humans to tour around the city of Manehattan and begin her science studies about humans and their civilization. She and Starlight had prepared a Saddlebag full of notebooks to record how humans lived and their daily habits. With this, the operation 'Eagle Contact' was declared successful by the government of the United States in contacting alien civilizations peacefully and even managed to invite them to the UN headquarters for further discussion, humanity is unprepared for what they will know and learn from these Equestrians. > History and...MAGIC??? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =/// Downtown Manehattan \\\= It was 9 AM, Alex can not be more pleased. Not only was the first contact between the Americans and the aliens who called themselves 'Equestrians' went pretty well, but they also allowed them to stay and tour around the city they called 'Manehattan'. The fact that they let a naval fleet from an entirely new nation to stay in their ports and accept an invitation to come to a meeting at the United Nations Headquarters really surprised him even more. Everything ended way better than they had originally planned, he and other sailors and personnel in the fleet thought that they would have to spend several months trying to decipher their language and another 2 months initiating diplomacy, and now the 'Equestrians' allowed the opening of diplomatic relations in just one day, making him curious as to what their leader is thinking. Unfortunately, there are several things that are still bugging his mind, mainly on how they ended up teleporting to Earth. It was scientifically impossible to teleport an entire nation to Earth, it just doesn't make sense! At first, he thought that it was the result of very advanced technology beyond human comprehension and imagination, or maybe some kind of divine intervention from a higher being? He didn't know, sailors in the fleets didn't know, and he sure believed Neil deGrasse Tyson didn't know. He for one believed that scientists around the world would spend centuries solving this anomaly, but for now, the thing he had to do today was return to the fleet and report the results of his encounter with the Equestrians to the American government and the president. Meanwhile, the other personnel, sailors, and scientist alike will tour around the city accompanied by a member of the Equestrian Royal family (or so he thought), he wonders how, or possibly even why this city can look so similar to New York City, and why is their government still based on absolute monarchy? Isn't that system of government already out-of-date? He began to fantasize about America starting to spread democracy to alien lands like they did in the Middle East. About how hundreds of M1A2 Abrams and thousands of Humvees and IFVs would roll down the streets and harvest all of those sweet hydrocarbons from the undergound. Oh, such a thought made him giddy with excitement, though not as much as your average patriot. While he was still fantasizing about America spreading democracy, a member of the Royal family named Twilight Sparkle started to speak to him "Hello hou-maen, may I ask you a question?" Twilight asked. "Uhm, actually, it's pronounced 'hyoo-man', but yes, you could ask me a question. It's not like you're going to get in trouble for it." Alex responded back. "Alright then, first question, can you explain how your government works and what system governing did they adopt?, Also, how about the origin of your country?" Twilight him the question. Alex Collins began to think of a way to explain to her about the United States and her governing system in a simple, yet informative way. Thankfully, he did indeed have a way to answer her properly. "Well, first of all, the United States of America, or commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country in North America. Our government is a federal republic and it consists of 50 states..." He paused for a moment as Twilight began to ask another question. "Woah, that's a lot of states! Can you name all of them?" Twilight Sparkle asked curiously. Alex began to draw a blank, he didn't remember all 50 states of the US. The only ones he knows are the ones that are well known, like Ohio for example. "Uh, lets skip that for now. we can continue your previous question." He responded. Twilight looked a bit sad about that but quickly nodded back. "Yeah, sure, we can continue that." She said. "Anyways, the Federal Government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the Federal courts. The origins of the United States started with some negativity. It happened when the thirteen former British Colonies disputed with the British Crown over taxation and political representation that eventually led to the American Revolution that lasted throughout 1765–1791 or in simpler terms, it happened 231 years ago." Alex answered back. "Oh wow, that's really interesting! So your country is based on a form of democracy? How did the republic last that long? Most of the democracies that existed in Equus' history only lasted less than 50 years, and your nation's history is very similar to the United Provinces of Coltlombia." said Twilight. "Well, we are geographically lucky. We are basically located on a continent protected by two vast oceans and surrounded by... nations not on par with us. About how our democracy can last that long is because of our beliefs in upholding freedom and the constitution, and about our history..." Alex began to think about what Twilight said. It can't be, that's such a huge coincidence if it were true. "Hold on, wait, did you say Coltlombia?" Alex asked. "Uh, yes, the United Province of Coltlombia was a rebel state that tried to get independence from Equestria in 1213 years ago, In the early 0600 CLD, Princess Celestia ordered establishment of colonies in what's now known as Coltlombia. By 0700 CLD, most of the settlements had formed into 13 Equestrian colonies: Delawire, Georgio, Mareland, Manechusetts, New Hayshire, Neigh York, Uhiu, New Jerrey, Virninia, North Coalina, Fillylvania, Rodhe Island, and South Coalina. The reason why they tried to gain independence from Equestria was because of the high taxation and the lack of political representation and the 'Tea incident' in the city of Bostone." Twilight replied happily, unaware of the sudden revelation she just dropped in front of the now shocked accompanying Americans. Alex was stunned to hear how similar Coltlombia history was to that of the United States. Also on how its colony could had a similar name to the original 13 American colonies. Alex and his colleague and also the marine who escorted them gave Twilight a what the fuck' look. "Erggh, is there something wrong?" Twilight asked, a bit concerned of the sudden mood that happened upon the group. One of the marines stepped up to Twilight and spoke. "H-how? How could it be so similar? The colony, the c-city, and the 'Tea incident'...?" "Uh, what do you mean? Are you saying that your nation's history is similar to that of Coltlombia's?" Starlight suddenly asked. "Yes, everything is very similar, damn near identical! In fact, this city is very similar to Manhattan in our New York City." The marine answered back. "Oh WOW, that means our world and your world history have some parallels, that explains why the flag raised on your ship is similar to the flag of the United Province of Coltlombia." Twilight concluded. Twilight then took notes and a quill with telekinesis from her saddle bag and started taking notes about how their world and her's has parallels between each other. Meanwhile, Alex and the marines are suddenly shocked about the sudden use of magic as they had never seen it. Well, they had, but it was all tricks and illusion, right? "H-holy crap, sir, is that pony writing with a floating quill?" A marine asked. "Well, marine, I-I don't honestly know..." A higher ranking marine responded back. "WAIT...h-how did you that?!" Alex stuttered, still not recovered from the sudden magic he and the others witnessed. Twilight looked at the group of humans, some of their faces still covered with shock, amazement, even some curious looks were directed towards her and her magical aura. "Errhh, you mean telekinesis? I was just using my magic." Twilight replied. "WHAT?! You're telling me magic is real?!" Alex exclaimed. "Uhm, yeah, it's a natural part of life for us ponies. Don't you 'hyoo-mans' have some magic yourself?" Starlight asked, genuinely curious. "No, we don't have any magic. For us, magic is just a myth and not something real. Well, unless you count those magicians that do tricks and illusions" Alex replied back. "Hold on, are you saying, your civilization is only based on science alone? That's...really interesting!" Twilight said cheerily. The amount of stuff she's learning is so much with these humans! Twilight started to write harder and faster. She now knows that the American governing system is based on a democracy, the parallels between the history of Equus and Earth are eerily similar, and the most important thing is that their civilization is science based only. "Alright, I guess that's enough questions for now, let's get back to the fleet, I have to send a report to the admiral and my superiors back at the US." Alex said to his group and the ponies accompanying them. Several 'aw's' came from the marine escorts but that quickly was resolved as the higher ranking marine promised them something. "But wait, I have more questions I have to ask you though. What's the common human diet? How advanced are you 'hyoo-mans'? Is it possible th-" Twilight was suddenly cut off as Alex puts a finger in front of her muzzle as a way to silence her. "Woah, hold on there, Twilight. You can continue your questions at a later date and I'll do my best to answer said questions, I promise." Alex said. Twilight simply nodded in response and Alex smiled before putting away his hand from her muzzle. As their convoy began to make its way back to their destination, Alex couldn't wait to report what he just find out. Starting from the parallel between the history of Equus and existence of magic, actual magic! With such news, humanity had finally started a new era that is full of the discovery of new knowledge, new inventions and technology, and the greatest of them all, that they are not alone in this vast, yet awesome universe... =/// Manehattan Harbour \\\= Admiral Jordy has not felt this frustuarated in his life. At the time of the first contact between the leader of these multi-coloured ponies, they somehow could understand and speak English, but the other ponies, for some odd reason, couldn't understand a sliver of English. He and his crew wanted to ask if they could see the other parts of city, but they looked so scared, with some of them even having hostile attitude towards him and his crew! What's even worse is that it's been more than 3 hours after the diplomatic team was invited to enter the city for a meeting with their leader. He still didn't get any information from them about how the meeting went and he hoped things would work out peacefully. Jordy looked back at the deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the crew on board were relaxing and still taking more photos and videos via camera or their personal cellphones to share on social media. The reason he didn't try to order them to stop was because he didn't see any point of such action, Operation 'Eagle contact' was not some kind of special covert operation or anything like that. In fact, they want to report the results of this operation to the whole world as soon as possible. Alas, the rest of the world is basically starting to feel at ease after knowing that the aliens didn't intend to attack or invade Earth, but some of the worry is still there. This might be because there are still many unanswered questions, mainly about how, or why, they came to Earth with their entire nation. After several minutes of staring at the deck and the oddly similar city that's named 'Manehattan', one of the sailors on board came to the bridge and informed Jordy that their diplomatic and marine escorts had returned. He quickly descended from the bridge to meet the diplomatic team to find out the results of the diplomacy between the American ambassador and the leader of the alien country. After he got off the ship, he could see the diplomatic team and their marine escort coming, accompanied by two small purple and pink ponies. Jordy also noted the the purple one has horns and wings and the pink one has only horns, he noted that in the back of his mind and he immediately greeted them back to the ship. "Welcome back to the fleet, ambassador, how was the result of your meeting with these alien ponies?" "It was great! In fact more than so, they immediately accepted our requests of diplomatic relations, they even let us stay in their harbor to do research in the name of science!" "That sounds really good, ambassador. Oh, and by the way, did you ask them about how they came to Earth and what happened to Hawaii? Admiral Jordy asked. "Unfortunately, the answers I got were troubling to say the least. They say some kind of mysterious anomaly they call 'Whiteouts' occured and teleported their continent to Earth. About Hawaii... I am really sad to say this, but I think they either all died because of the anomaly, or they were teleported to the planet where 'Equestria' came from. I can only hope that they are doing alright..." He answered sadly. "That's unfortunate..." Admiral Jordy responded. Though he may not show much emotion, he was a bit sad about hearing the news. He had a friend back in Hawaii, he could only hope that he was doing alright in the planet where 'Equestria' came from. If it were the former, hopefully he went somewhere nice, he deserved that. Jordy then realized something. Equestria? The planet they came from? He simply had to ask. "Hold on, what do you mean by 'Equestria'?" "That is the name of their country. They say that the land we are currently on is mostly inhabited by ponies. We also got brief knowledge about the history of their country." "So, what do you think we should do now? Everything is progressing much differently and faster than we originally planned." "Well, I will report my results and findings to the government and ask for further steps on what to do because their leader said she was interested to come visit the UN headquarters to attend a meeting between global representatives to announce that they are came in peace and have no hostile intentions to any nations on Earth." Admiral Jordy was relieved to hear such news from Ambassador Alex. Something like this usually had its development slow and tense, he really didn't expect this mission to end so successfully. "Okay then, but there's something that still confuses me." "What is it?" "Well, their leader somehow seems to be able to understand English, but the other ponies in the port for some reason don't understand any word we say." "Oh, I think it's because I didn't cast my universal translation spell on them." Twilight suddenly answered behind the Admiral. "Universal what?" Jordy asked with confusion. He did hear that correctly, right? "It's a new magic spell I developed a few days ago. The spell is capable of translating unknown languages ​​instantaneously." Twilight replied proudly. Twilight then quickly took the language spell book that she kept in her saddle bag, The admiral really looked taken aback by that, not only was this creature able to make manipulate objects to the point where they float in the air, but also because they can translate any human language in an instant. "Wait, so that's magic too?" Alex asked. "Yes, I wouldn't blame you 'hyoo-mans' for being surprised since this isn't actually the first time we've come into contact with a magicless civilization." Twilight replied. Not all races in Equus were able to do magic. Out of the 2.5 billion creatures that live in Equus, only 1/4 of them were able to do magic without the help of a magic tool, and most of them are ponies. That is why the ponies were able to become the most dominant creatures on Equus. Their great magical abilities and also their leader is basically an immortal goddess. "Okay, that explains a lot of things, I guess this is the reason why they were able to build a modern city with just a hoof." Jordy said "Yes, I really couldn't believe it to know that magic actually exists, I'm sure the scientists on the ship would be drooling from the mouth just trying to learn about it." "Wait, so you brought scientists on board to?" Twilight asked. "Yes, as we said, our intentions to come here is to open diplomatic relations between whatever nation we encountered, that being yours. We would also research in the sanem of science and logic. They will be genuinely interested in learning the biology, behavioural habits, and culture of your species. The only thing preventing them from starting their current reserch is the language barrier issue as the ponies at the harbor don't understand English." Jordy answered. "Oh, don't worry about that, my friend and I will cast out the language spells so you can communicate with other ponies. I might as well invite some unicorn scientists or mages from Manehattan university to help as translators." "That's sound really good, your highness, we really appreciate your help." "Oh, not a problem at all! I'm more than happy to help you all in your objectives! Oh, and by the way, just call me Twilight. I would love to invite the 'hyoo-man' scientists on a tour all around Manehattan. Letting them visit museums and libraries so you 'hyoo-mans' can understand more about our species." Twilght responded. "Thank you for your hospitality, Twilight, I will immediately notify the scientists on board the ship." Jordy replied. "Oh, it's not big deal, just trying my best!" Twilight said. The admiral then returns to his ship to announce to the scientist that they have received an invitation to take a tour around the city and visit the Manehattan museums and libraries. Meanwhile, Ambassador Alex goes to the communications room on the USS Theodore Roosevelt to report the results of the diplomatic meeting between him and the leader of Equestria. The human scientists were really surprised and amazed by the unique magical abilities possessed by the ponies. They would spend most of their lives trying to learn magic and trying to find a way to apply it to human life. Shortly after, the admiral announced to everyone on the ship that they got an invitation from Princess Twilight Sparkle to visit the national museum and public library in Manehattan. Basically, to say that the scientists were happy was an understatement, some of them even did a griddy in celeberation of the new knowledge they will learn. That and they were the first in the scientific field to interact and learn about an alien species, they will surely have a field day. Of course, at first many of them didn't believe that the ponies could do magic, they thought that was just a cringe joke by the admiral, but after Twilight and Starlight demonstrated their magic skills in front of them, they were all basically dumbfounded and amazed by the abilities they had. The two ponies demonstrated something simple from telekinesis to complex magic like teleportation and matter manipulation in front of them. After that Twilight started taking them on a tour of the Manehattan national museum, in total she brought 47 human scientists and 10 marines as escorts on the trip. Before they left though, Twilight and Starlight casted a language spell on all the scientific personnel and their escorts so they could communicate with the ponies. As they were walking towards the museum, they saw the airship that was supposed to be guarding the skies over Manehattan starting to retreat. This was because after the meeting, Princess Celestia informed that the humans had come peacefully and had no intention of hurting anypony so she started ordering all the airships to return to their respective bases. After 23 minutes of walking in the middle of the city, they finally arrived at the Manehattan National Museum. At first, the guards situated at the Manehattan National Museum were a bit frightened by the arrival of the humans, but with the help of Twilight Sparkle's reassurance, they allowed the humans to see the museum. The moment they were inside the museum, the human scientists couldn't contain their admiration. The Manehattan National Museum is one of the largest museums in Equestria. They store many historical artifacts that can be traced back to the era before Celestia and Luna descended from the place ponykind called 'Garden' or A.K.A. 'Heaven'. The humans also had a hard time not touching the historical items that are stored in museums. They all acted like the average Romanians whenever something valuable is lying on the ground, something Twilight and her marefriend find very hilarious. After 25 minutes spent at the museum, they started to go to the Manehattan National Library, This time, they didn't have to walk very far because the library is very close to the museum. They only spent 12 minutes walking before finally arriving at the museum. What they found made their jaws drop, metaphorically of course. The Manehattan National Library is bigger than 'The Library of Congress', with 189 million items and 1,789 kilometers of bookshelves, basically this makes the Manehattan National Library the largest library in the world. Human scientists immediately began borrowing a bunch of books from the library, ranging from pony biology, history, biography, and magic. The problem though was that they couldn't read the Equestrian alphabet, this made Twilight and Starlight have to cast language translation spell on each book they borrowed one by one. It was a bit exhausting for the two ponies, but in the end, it was worth it, the humans were happy with their books of new knowledge. After Twilight and Starlight used up 1/4 of their energy reserves to cast the language spell on all the books the humans had borrowed, one of the few human scientists came to them. He was Isaac Thompson, he is a historian from the university of California. He was one of the lucky individuals to be recruited into operation 'Contact Eagle'. He and his colleague, Jarrett Mills, a biologist, found something odd in the Equestrian historical records, especially about their leader. "Pardon me, your Highness, can I ask you something?" asked Isaac. "Of course, and please, just call me Twilight." Twilight replied. "Well, I want to ask you something. According to this book, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were the leaders of Equestria from the very founding until today, right? But also according to this book, Equestria has existed for over two thousand years, how could that be possible?, did they really live that long?" Isaac asked. It should be impossible though, such a long life span shouldn't be a thing, right? "Yes, it is one of the special abilities of Alicorn. The Alicorn race is basically immune to aging. They are also completely resistant to almost all diseases." Twilight answered. Isaac, for all the answers he was expecting, did not expect that answer. "So, they are basically immortal?" Jarrett said. "Practically speaking, yes, they could technically live forever." Twilight replied. "But how can that be possible? Not a single biological creature can live that long!" Isaac exclaimed. "That's because Alicorns, especially the adults, have a great capacity for magic, they are able to do things that are impossible for most mortals. For example, only Princess Celestia and Luna have the ability to move the sun, moon and other celestial objects." said Twilight. "Wait, you're also an Alicorn too, right? Can you demonstrate to us how you move the moon or the sun in front of us?" Jarrett asked curiosuly. "I'm sorry, but im not capable to move the sun and the moon, not yet at least. I might have to wait another hundred years to start having enough energy to move the moon, and maybe another hundred years to start being able to move the sun." Twilight answered. Isaac and Jarrett were surprised to hear what Twilight said. Something like that should be physically impossible, no matter how advanced their civilization was. The two of them weren't the only humans who heard what Twilight said, an astrophysicist named Cody Dixon heard what she said. In response, he immediately rushed towards them. "Forgive me, but, are you saying that they are the ones responsible for changing the position and order of the solar system?" Cody asked. "Uh, what do you mean ?" Twilight asked, confused. "Well, originally, the solar system had the sun as its center and the planets and asteroids orbiting it via gravity. Though, a few days ago, not long after your arrival to Earth, everything changed. Earth is now the center of the solar system while the sun and other planets orbit the Earth." Cody answered. "Errh, I don't know. In our home system, Equus being the center of the solar system is something normal. Are you saying everything has changed since we came?" Twilight asked. "In simpler words, yes, everything has changed ever since you guys came to our planet." Cody replied. "OOHH, WOW! This means the star system of this system is starting to adapt to the Alicorn's magic! We originally thought that Celestia's and Luna's stellar magic only applies on the Equus system. This is a very extraordinary discovery." Twilight said happily, once more unaware of the sudden news she has dropped. "What? No, it's completely the opposite! All of our research, ranging from our solar system to the basic understand of gravity has come to a complete halt! Years upon years of research is suddenly irrelevant!" Cody exclaimed. "Not only has it completely halted, but it has also set space research back by decades! Almost all observing satellites or probes around the solar system have been basically destroyed by the sun or the other planets. Some even being ejected from the solar system completely!" Cody said. "One of the most tragic news is the fate of the James Webb Space Telescope. All of the sensitive infrared equipment in the telescope is completely fried by the heat from the sun, so it has to be retired early..." Cody said sadly. He really liked the JWST. "Hold on, what do you mean by space research?" asked Twilight. "In the past, we sent satellites or probes into space to investigate and do reserch about celestial objects in outer space. Unfortunately, due to sudden changes in the order of our solar system, it makes all future research missions nearly impossible." Cody replied. This caught Twilight's attention. These 'hyoo-mans' were capable of sending stuff into space, something that was once thought near impossible by the scientists back at the Canterlot Research Institute, but right now, this is not the time to ask about it, they just lost years of research because of Celestia's and Luna's meddling. "Oh dear... we apologize then, I'll try to talk to Celestia and Luna about this." Twilight said. She could relate to the humans, having all research being thrown out the window is something she wished to never happen again. "Well, apologizing won't do much, can it? All of the research that we conducted world-wide, milions of dollars spent on space, gone..." Cody said sadly. "I'll have you know that we didn't intend for that. We didn't know that we were do-" Twilight was cut off as Cody began to speak. "It's fine, kind of... If your princesses are willing to change the the solar system back to the way it was, that'll be great. We can always recover, we humans are like that." Cody said, Twilight simply nodded in response. After that, the tour in the Manehattan National Library went smoothly again. The humans gain new knowledge about ponies, from their history, biology, and magic. They also learn that the leader of the ponies is the one responsible for the sudden change in the position of the solar system. Once this information spreads to the internet, it will spread like a wild fire, to the far north of Canada and to the tip of Argentina. The fact that these new inhabitants of Earth have the ability to move the sun and moon and reconstruct how the solar system is positioned is truly terrifying. A sense of dread will engulf humanity for decades to come... Somewhere in Manehattan plaza, Celestia was coordinating dinner preparations between herself and the human ambassador, but since she still didn't know what the humans ate, she basically ordered the chefs to cook almost all the food that they have on the menu. This is because they still don't know what humans actually eat, they never bothered to ask in the first place. Celestia assumed they were herbivores like them, this was because humans didn't seem to have carnivorous characteristics like fangs, claws, or sharp teeth, so all the food they made is vegetarian dishes, there is no way that a creature that looks like weird combination of monkey and minotaur could consume meat, right? She also asked the mayor to prepare enough chairs for almost everyone. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough room for everyone. According to the information they received, the number of human personnel in the fleet numbered more than 8 thousand people, most of them were on their flag ship which they named the USS Theodore Roosevelt. This in turn made Celestia dumbfounded. Equestria's largest Airship only needed at least 500 ponies to operate, 600 if they were pushing it to the limit. Celestia was a bit disappointed that she couldn't bring all the human sailors and personnel to have a dinner together. At the very least, they managed to prepare enough seats to accommodate more than 500 humans. After her preparations seemed to be almost done, Celestia then looked at the clock on the wall in the plaza, it was already near 6 PM, or 5:48 to be exact. She then asked Luna to get out of the plaza building to start their duty as guardian of the sun and moon. When she started casting her magic spell, she suddenly heard a voice from behind her. As she looked back, she found Twilight and more than 50 humans. Ranging from scientists to guards who, for whatever reason, are strangely called 'Marines'. "Ohh, Twilight, you're finally back! How was the tour, did everything go well?" Celestia asked Twilight. "Yes princess, everything went well. I learnt quite a lot about the humans today, they are a really interesting species." Twilight replied. "Oh really, how so?" Celestia asked. "I know that human civilization is purely based on science and technology. They didn't recognize about the existence of magic until our arrival. Their history also has parallels with that of Equestria." Twilight answered. "That sounds really good Twilight, I would love to hear more about what you learned today over dinner. For now though, me and my sister have to do our duty first." Celestia said. Celestia's horns began to glow with a yellow aura, a magnificent bright light began to shine from her horn, somehow not blinding anyone who's looking at it. As the sun slowly began to descend to the horizon, Luna's horn also began to glow with a blue aura that, as with Celestia's, began to shine brightly. With that, the moon quickly began to rise, enveloping the night sky with a moonlight. The scientists and marines were completely stunned by what they had just seen, it was odd to see such a feat. Odd yet beautiful in a way. One marine luckily had his camera rolling at the time to capture the majestic scene. "Crikey, that... was beautiful..." The marine with the camera said, the other humans in the group agreed with him. "S-so, they did actually move the sun and moon..." Cody muttered. "They are indeed immortal goddess after all!" Isaac exclaimed. "So we are all doomed?" Jarrett said, asking the obvious. "Rah..." A marine said quietly. Celestia and Luna seemed really confused by the words said by the human scientist. The two of them were at a loss as to why they were so dumbfounded by something that should to be a common knowledge, Celestia became the first to ask a question. "Erggh, are you alright?" Celestia asked. "Nope... everything is not alright." Cody said. The human scientist named Cody then started to explain to Celestia and Luna about what had happened to the solar system and its effect on space research. He also asked if they could get things back to normal. Celestia could actually restore the solar system to 'normal', but before she could say anything, Luna suddenly intervened. "I'm sorry, but unfortunately we cannot return the solar system back to normal." Luna suddenly said. "What?! Why not? We lost entire decades worth of research, damn it! Most, if not ALL of our probes and satellites orbiting far away planets are gone, reduced to mere debris!" Cody exclaimed, losing hope in a normal solar system. "Because when an Alicorn's magic starts to connect with a star system, all objects start to adapt and change their position individually without us knowing." Luna answered back calmly. "Wait... you're saying if Equestria goes back to Equus, does that mean all objects in our solar system, ranging from gas giants, planets, and to asteroids will suddenly go in different directions?" Cody nervously asked. He hoped that whatever answer that comes from the princess won't be negative. Alas, that was not the case. "Most likely, yes." Luna answered as a matter of fact. No emotion at all being detected from her tone. Celestia couldn't believe what she just heard, Luna lied in front of the humans by saying that they couldn't return the solar system to normal. She could see the faces of Cody and the other scientists looking sad and disappointed, the poor, poor, humans... As Cody and the other scientists who were there started to leave, being led by Twilight and Starlight to the dining room in the plaza, they all left with sadness, there was no hope for recovering years of research, they were basically at step 1 in space research. After they seemed distant, Celestia quickly asked Luna why she lied to humans. "Sister... why? Why did you lie to them? You and I know that's untrue." asked Celestia. "It's not because I hate them Tia, we were tasked with being the eternal guardian of the sun and moon. We spent most of our childhood studying stellar magic, do you want to lose all of that just so this... this configured minotaur can send some stuff into outer space?" Luna asked. "Luna, you have to understand, this was their system before we came, not ours. It was their sun and moon, it was never ours to begin with. Even if they can't control it, it's still theirs at the end. They even spent years researching about the space that surrounds their little planet." Celestia said. "I'm sorry sister, but it had to be done. We are the guardians of the sun and moon, its caretaker and defender. Our cutie marks symbolize it as well. If we can't control the sun and moon, what's the point of our cutie marks? No, I won't allow... disconfigured minotaurs ruin that, not at all. Plus, we still have our powers, our abilities, why not use it for the better?" Luna said. Celestia couldn't say anything, Luna was right, they were destined to be the eternal guardians of the sun and moon, it has basically become a part of their life that they can't let go. They have sun and moon symbol as their Cutiemark for Faust's sake. "Look, I know lying to them is not something good, Tia, but we have no other choice. Besides, if they're as advanced as we hear them say, I'm sure they'll be able to figure out an alternative way to send a 'satellite' and 'telescope' into space." Luna said. "Argh... fine then, I hope you're right. But, if they were to find out that we could return their system to normal, we'll be in more trouble than ever before, and we won't have more of our allies by our side..." Celestia replied. "Don't worry, dear sister, they won't find out, I'll make sure of it." Luna said. With that, Celestia and Luna started to go inside the Plaza to start dinner. They will keep this truth a secret to themselves, the truth the humans should never know. No one except Twilight and other Alicorn princesses should know about this secret for if it were to be revealed to humanity, they will not let this go quietly. It's a shame that the dinner didn't end as smoothly as they had hoped, Ambassador Alex somehow went berserk and screamed like he had been possessed by a demon after he saw the existence of pineapple pizza on the table, the same goes for other humans who have Italian ancestry. Twilight, being the Princess of Friendship she is, quickly explained to them that humans are omnivores who are quite picky when it comes to food, especially hen dealing with the disc-shaped food called 'Pizza'. Luckily, the other humans who were in the room managed to tackle them before they started to set fire to the plaza. Admiral Jordy apologized for the inconvenience that caused the ambassador and some of his personnel to go berserk. Luckily, Celestia and Luna forgave them, they did find it quite funny though. =///Washington D.C.\\\= In the capital city of the United States, all the important members of the government gathered in the safe room to discuss the results of Operation 'Eagle Contact'. They also discussed new information they had received from the diplomatic and scientific teams they had deployed there. The first thing they addressed is the fact that the aliens who call themselves 'Equestrians', came unintentionally to Earth by an anomalous phenomenon they call 'Whiteouts'. The second is their desire to open diplomatic relations with the United States and also participate in the meeting in United Nation headquartes which will be held in 3 days. Due to the distance and the fact that the Equestrians depended on Airships for long-distance travel, they had to prepare their own a plan for their visit to America. First, the Equestrians will come to the air base in San Francisco with their conventional airship. Afterwards, they will be transported using a Boeing 747 to Washington D.C. where they will officially sign the opening of diplomatic relations with the president before finally leaving for New York by land. The second is that they have to address the facts about the ponies unique ability to manipulate energy and everything around them which they call 'magic'. The third is discussing about the fate of Hawaii because if what Princess Twilight said is true, that Celestia and Luna are in charge of moving the sun and moon, that means that after their teleportation to Earth, the surface of Equus were basically fried by the heat of the sun, or completely destroyed by the gravitational pull of their home system star, they also have to accept the fact that the Earth is now dependent on the Equestrians to stay alive, because without them, life on Earth will end. They were afraid that the Equestrians would use this as their diplomatic card to their advantage. Also, even if Hawaii and the Oceanic countries were safely teleported to Equus, they wouldn't last long, and it's likely that all life on Equus would be dead by now, unfortunate news for whoever knows... With that, President Adam will announce to the world of the results of Operation 'Contact Eagle' and will also announce the fate of Hawaii and other Oceanic countries that were unfortunately caught up in the tragedy of Equestrian teleportation from Equus to Earth which basically claimed the lives of more than a million human lives. All nations around the world began to give condolences for the loss of Hawaii to the Americas and every Oceanic country caught in the teleportion to another world. Well, most nations except for Afghanistan, the Taliban celebrated this tragedy and thanked Allah (God) for killing 1.6 million Americans lives. In rememberance, that day will soon be officially be named, 'Teleporation Rememberance Day', in which everyone will remember the lives that were lost that day. This marks a new era for humanity and ponykind, an era of friendship and harmony on Earth, an era of technology and magic, but an era of mystery and deception. It won't be pretty, that's for sure, but if both species manage to survive these trying times, maybe, just maybe, they will truly live in harmony and all barriers will be brought down for the better... #RememberHawaii > Trip to America > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =///CNN\\\= "Good afternoon! Welcome to CNN, I am Todd Williams..." "And I am Samantha Kriss, here today with more news concerning the unknown continent." She pauses to let the lead anchor talk. "That is correct! With news coming in from the US president himself, we are notified that the inhabitants of this unknown continent were not only transported here by unknown circumstances, but seems to want to have friendly relations with us." Todd says before letting Samantha talk. "Yes, if any of you don't believe this, check out this footage from the White House front lawn, where the president addressed the nation about the situation." Samantha says before the feed changes to show the president in front of a podium. "My fellow Americans, today is a day we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Over the course of many days, the nation... no, the world waits in anticipation as our diplomatic team made first contact with beings from another world. Not from space, nor from Mars, but from our very own planet, Earth." He paused before continuing. "As we waited to hear the news from the diplomatic team, many of us began to speculate, I myself am guilty of this. Are they friendly? Are they hostile? Why are they here? Why is the solar system different? So many questions yet none of them answered..." He took a breath before talking once more. "But today, a few hours ago, we received news from the diplomatic team. What they said was shocking to say the least. They, the inhabitants of the new continent, came here on accident and... they managed to adjust the solar system to their own liking, making it similar to their old world..." Lots of gasps and murmurs were heard behind the camera. The president raised his arm as a way to hush them, it worked. "Rest assured, though, these new inhabitants are friendly, their leaders are benevolent and it shows. Though they possess powers unimaginable, they will not use said powers for evil, but for the betterment of both species. They also apologized for adjusting the solar system, they were not aware of that, even though it costed all space agencies a lot of money." A couple of chuckles can be heard from behind the camera. "In 3 days time, the leaders of the new countries will visit New York City for the UN Emergency meeting being held at the UN Headquarters. I ask for you all to be respectful to our new neighbors, and hopefully, our new friends..." The president seemed to sigh. "For everyone that are still unsure about this, do not fret, we will stand united in these uncertain times. Not as Americans, Russians, nor Chinese, but as one species, humanity. We may have had our differences in the past but hopefully, we as humans will put that aside, not only for us, but for our new neighbors as well. Unfortunately, that is all for now, may god bless America, and may god bless humanity..." =/// Crystal Empire \\\= It has been the fifth day since the continent of Equestria was teleported to another world. Being teleported to another world basically brought many wonders to the Crystal Empire, not only because of the fact that the average temperature of the empire's territory began to rise until it reached an average temperature of 14°-23° celsius, it is because the Crystal Empire is basically 3,500,000 kilometers closer to the equator than before on Equus. The snow and ice that should have blanketed the northern part of Equestria is now melting away and there is news that plants such as grass and flowers are starting to bloom near the border between the Crystal Empire and United Kingdom of Equestria. Empress Cadance couldn't be more exhausted, for the past few days, she had been busy coordinating the Empire's expansion project in the north of the Equestria continent to all aspects, starting from the development of agriculture, infrastructure, and colonialism in areas that were previously part of the Republic of Yayakstan. Unfortunately for Empress Cadance, she barely has time to spend with her daughter. Her husband on the other hoof doesn't really help her with her job, mostly spending a significant part of his time playing O&O with his high school friends. When she started to think about taking a rest on her very comfortable bed (it's extremely soft), she suddenly heard a letter pop above her head. Cadance caught the letter with her telekinesis before it had the chance to hit the floor. When she decided to look closely at the letter, she saw that it had *the* sun seal, this showed that this letter was sent directly from Celestia herself. For a moment, she puts the letter away, she's too tired to deal with a letter. Though, after careful consideration, she decided to look at the letter, it did come from Celestia. Cadance's heart started to beat faster, she was really afraid that Celestia had heard about her little colonialism project in the north of the continent and that would be bad because of the fact she forgot to inform her, having an entire Empire to look after can do that to an alicorn. With anticipation, she began to open the seal and start to read the letter. Dear Empress Mi Amore Cadenza I'm sorry my dear niece if this letter came by surprise, this is because of all of the incidents that befell our humble nations. If you still haven't heard what happened yesterday, the natives of this world we now live in just visited Manehattan yesterday morning. With them, they brought with a fleet of warships in their first attempt to contact us. If you are panicking, do not fret, they came with the intentions of diplomacy. Though, from the looks of their behavior, they seem to be very cautious towards us Now, you may ask why that is so, if you keep on reading, I'll explain why. The reason behind their cautiousness is because they have never came into contact with other sentient species. Why? It is because they are the only sentient species on this planet, and our sudden arrival to their world caused... lets say, 'a lot of ruckus'. So, in order to calm down the natives of this world, I decided to visit their international organization which they call the 'United Nations', where representatives of countries around the world gather to discuss about global matters. Just think of this like the 'League of Nations' organization that we have back in Equus. From what the ambassador of the nation called the 'United States of America' said, this meeting would be held in less than 3 days in 'New York City', on the continent they call 'North America'. From what I have heard, they say there are more than 195 countries in the world. Though, I'm not sure if it's because this world they call 'Earth' is bigger than Equus or because their people really are so divided. Keep in mind that they are still unaware that Equestria wasn't the only kingdom that teleported to 'Earth', so I'd like to invite you to join this meeting and be the Crystal Empire representative to the United Nations. I will be awaiting for your response. If you are interested in joining this meeting, I have rerouted a train from Manehattan to the Crystal City. - From your dear aunt, Celestia Radiants Cadance lowered the paper and started to think for several minutes. She actually still hadn't heard about the arrival of the United States of America in Manehattan, she was simply too busy with bureaucracy and taking care of her baby, her husband really wasn't that much help in both categories. Though, something like this wasn't something that would come around often. She wanted to also announce the existence of the Crystal Empire to this world and possibly open up trade with them. Her empire's economy had started to decline due to the loss of foreign customers such as the Yaks. The Empire would usually export energy crystals to other countries or received the service of refining crystals for the needs of neighboring nations. So, even though she was exhausted from so much work, she had to start opening up relations and trade with native nations of this planet to prevent further economic decline. What was the point of new colonial territories and agricultural projects if her empire did not have enough money to build the infrastructure to develop them? Cadance then took a piece of paper and a single quill from her desk and started writing her reply. Dear Aunt Celestia Yes, I would be happy to come along with you to visit the 'United Nations' meeting'. I will prepare to go to Manehattan on the train you have rerouted immediately. I will leave Flurry Heart to the royal nurse to take care of her. - From your niece, Cadance. After finishing writing the letter, Cadance then rolled up the paper and stamped it with the seal of the Crystal Heart symbol. She then took a box containing magic matchsticks, these magic matchsticks were used to send letters to people who were at a distance. It was basically an on-the-go portable Spike her sister-in-law has. With the flick of her magic, the matchsticks catches aflame. She set the matchstick near the letter and proceeded to burn it, turning it to ashes. All of what's left of the letter will float towards the destination that the burner wants without casting a spell. Though a genius piece of pony innovation, this magic tool is one of the main factors that caused Equestria and all of Equus to never develop a mobile cellphone. After sending the letter to Celestia, Cadance then went to her advisor to inform that she was planning to go to Manehattan to participate in a meeting with representatives of the native world countries. She didn't bother to tell her husband the important news herself because she was sure that he was at some bar, hanging out with old friends. She ordered for her schedule to be cleared for a week so she wouldn't be overwhelmed by the Empire's bureaucracy when she came back. She also told her advisor that Emperor Shining Armor will be leading the Crystal Empire while she's away. She had lots of fate in her husband despite him hanging out with old friends from time to time. With that, she visited the royal nursery to leave her baby so that she would be well taken care of. She sighed a long sigh, it was going to be a difficult time. =/// Manehattan Plaza \\\= It was 8 AM in the Manehattan Plaza, Princess Celestia once again coordinated preparations for breakfast with the American ambassador and his fellow people. This time though, they won't have pineapple pizza on the table, it was absolutely horrific seeing the human lash out like a zombiquine in those comics she read in her breaks. They also imported 'bacon' and 'fish' from the provinces of New Mexicolt and Texson to meet the need for human diet because of the many marines (she still thought that was an odd group), and the human sailors indirectly complaining about the lack of meat on the dining table. As much as Celestia didn't want to see this carnivorous product on the dining table, she must try her best to please the humans as much as possible so they will have a good attitude towards her ponies. They will also intend to discuss plans for their visit to New York City to participate in a meeting at the UN headquartes. This was because the Americans basically still hadn't told them where 'New York City' was. From her memory, she didn't think that they even told her the distance between her and their nation. Ambassador Alex said that her approval and planning for the arrival of Equestrian to America was moving very slowly. She was actually not surprised by this because with her knowledge, democracy is basically politicians gathering and arguing for hours without coming to a mature conclusion, compared to an Equestrian absolute monarchy where she can directly decide foreign policy decisions quickly without being slowed down by the bureaucracy. Though she really didn't show it, this made her proud of herself for not allowing such an inferior governing system to spread beyond the local provincial government. After the last dish of food was placed by the plaza maid on the dining table, the breakfast can begin. Celestia ordered her royal guards to send invitations to the human's naval admiral to have breakfast in the plaza. Hopefully, things will go smoothly this time around. =///20 minutes later\\\= Ambassador Alex and Admiral Jordy once again came to the plaza. Alongside the two, they also had 489 human sailors and marines and this time, the admiral made it clear to all personnel that if anyone started acting crazy like last night, their ass would be stationed at Fort Shame at Ohio. This wasn't just because he became embarrassed in front of the ponies' leader because of the actions of his subordinates, it was the actions of trying to burn down the plaza, essentially putting their mission here at risk of failure. He wasn't about to let his mission fail because something as stupid as a pineapple pizza. The moment he started to enter the plaza, he, the ambassador, and his men, were greeted by plaza maids and were being directed to their seats. Anyone of importance near royalty, anyone else was just being sent to where the food was. To Ambassador Alex's relief, there was no pineapple pizza this time, they substituted it for a cheese pizza covered with something resembling bacon. Though, this did raise a question for the ambassador, where did they get the bacon? He thought they were herbivores. It was a question he will ask at another time. The human's could see the three members of the Equestrian royal family sitting on the other side of the table. He could see Princess Celestia enjoying pancakes... okay, she was absolutely demolishing the pancakes, but it was humourous for him and the other humans. He then turned his attention to Luna who seemed to be drinking some sort of wine. Meanwhile, whom he assumed to be the youngest member of the family, Princess Twilight was enjoying something resembling a hamburger, and her friend who identified herself as 'Starlight' was reading a newspaper while enjoying her morning coffee. All in all, it seemed normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Admiral Jordy and Ambassador Alex sat in their seats, along with them was Captain Brian Foster, captain of the USS Benfold. He was here to show them the plans and schedule for their visit to their beloved homeland. After they sat down, the Admiral Jordy realized that Princess Luna was staring at him. He didn't know why she was staring at him, he felt like his life would be gone in a matter of seconds with such a stare. Princess Luna's starry blue eyes gave the admiral a death gaze that pierced his soul like she was some kind of angel of death, which was absolutely horrifying. Before he could say anything about it, Princess Celestia started to speak. "So ambassador, how is the response from the leader of your home country on my interest in participating in the meeting at the UN headquarters?" Celestia asked, genuinely curious. "Hm? Oh yeah, he said he would delighted to welcome you when you came to the US. Though I don't have all the details, Captain Brian Foster here will show you the schedule of your planned visit to America." Alex responded, pointing one of his hands towards the captain. Princess Celestia then turned to face the captain. To her surprise, he seemed to be talking, or to be more specific, flirting with one of her maids. Though this did indeed catch Celestia off guard, she smiled at that, it reinforced the idea that both her ponies and the humans can get along. Unfortunately, her sister seemed to notice this and show a hidden face of slight disgust. Celestia didn't know why her sister was acting this way towards the humans, she really didn't have any reason to. Well, unless you count the 'jet' incident, but the humans were just curious, surely something like that couldn't warrant her dislike towards the humans. Celestia would just have to ask at a later date... "Did anyone tell you that you're beautiful?" The captain would say, causing the pony to blush and giggle at the compliment and Princess Luna to roll her eyes. "Oh, tee hee, you're making me blush..." The pony maid would say. ... "Ahem, captain?" Captain Brian Foster and the pony maid would turn to the voice. It was the ambassador, and he seemed to look nervous. The ambassador was nodding his head towards one area, confusing the captain. As the captain turned to look, he froze, so did the pony maid, Princess Celestia was looking at the both of them, mostly the captain. "Greetings captain, I was asking the ambassador here if they had the schedule for our trip to your homeland, he said that you had it, though you seemed a bit busy at the moment, should I ask at a later time?" Princess Celestia would say warmly, a smile on her face. "I, erm, sorry ma'am, I was... talking to one of your maids, she's really nice... Uh, I'll get the documents right away." The captain, unprepared, would say. As the captain would try to find the schedule, Celestia would turn to face the pony maid. "And you, how's the talk with the nice captain?" Princess Celestia would ask nicely. "I-it was nice, your highness, I, uh... will get to work straight away, sorry for disturbing you, your highness." The pony maid would proceed to wave goodbye to the captain before trotting away. Though she won't admit it, Princess Celestia really enjoyed how her ponies would react when getting addressed by her. "Aha! Here it is, the schedule." Captain Brian would then proceed to take out a document containing the schedule for their visit to America. Princess Celestia, without any warning, took it using her telekinesis. Captain Brian looked a bit taken aback by Celestia using her magic, so did surrounding naval personnel that were still unfamiliar with pony magic. Opening the document, Celestia started to read the contents of the document. She was initially a little surprised by the image of the American continent and Equestrian continent, the distance was 1.5 farther than the distance between the Equestrian Continent and the Griffonian continent. The map would also look extremely detailed and accurate. She then took a look at the transportation section. She was curious of how the humans were able to invent something as efficient as the airplane. She continued to read further into the contents of the document. From there, she saw that the United States of America looked to not only invite them to attend a meeting at the UN, but at the same time, to meet their leaders in person and sign agreements on officially opening diplomatic relations and possibly starting trade. She also saw that there was another additional visit scheduled. Namely, the American government intends to invite them to visit the New York library and also some places to show the amount of technology they have in their possesion. If her memory serves correctly, Twilight said that the human civilization is only based on science, not magic. Celestia was really curious about the technology they would show them. From what she saw, human technology looked advanced. "This schedule is great, ambassador, I will really look forward to my meeting with your leader! At the same time, I hope you enjoy your pizza this time." Celestia joked. Alex, who at that time was still in the middle of chewing his pizza, immediately choked after hearing Princess Celestia's words. The admiral smirked at Alex who was quickly trying to swallow his pizza down his throat in one swift swallow. "Erhh I-yes, thank you, your Highness, this is really a really good pizza. The taste could even rival a pizza in my home country." Alex answered. "I'm glad to hear that ambassador. I know a combination of Itailyan Cheese and Mexicoltan Bacon would be great for you humans." Celestia said. Admiral Jordy and Captain Brian, who at that time were still in the middle of drinking their beverages, immediately spat out their drinks after hearing Celestia's words. Ambassador Alex was also surprised at the same time, he knew that Equestria had a parallel with Earth, but not on this level of coincidence. "ACK! I'm terribly sorry, but did you say Mexicolt and Itaily?" The admiral questioned, hoping to know what he heard was true. "Mhm, it is one of Equestria's province. Is there a problem I'm not aware of?" Celestia asked. "No, not really, it's just that the name is similar to some of the countries on Earth." The admiral answered. "Oh, that's amazing! That means Earth and Equestria had a bigger parallel than I theorized! Say, does Earth have countries named Prance, Germane, or Fillypine?" Twilight suddenly asked. Admiral Jordy was immediately stunned by what Twilight said. The ambassador and Captain Brian were also surprised too, this can't be a simple coincidence! Before the admiral could answer, a scroll with a seal bearing the Crystal Heart magically appeared above Celestia's head, this caught the attention of everyone at the table. She quickly caught it with her telekinesis before the letter fell onto the dining table. The admiral and the ambassador looked seemed surprised by the sudden appearance of the letter, they wanted to ask how that was possible, but they decided to ask that question at another time because this whole thing about the ponies just doesn't make any sense. Celestia then opened the letter and started reading its contents. After reading for several minutes, Celestia suddenly smiled and then her face faced Alex, causing the ambassador to be curious. "Excuse me, your Highness, is there a problem?" Alex asked. "Oh, of course not, I just got a reply letter from my niece, the leader of the Crystal Empire." Celestia answered. That raised some eyebrows from the humans. "Crystal Empire?" Alex asked. "It's our sister nation. It's inhabited by crystal ponies in the northern part of the continent." Luna answered suddenly, swirling her drink around with her magic. "Okay, hold on, are you saying that Equestria isn't the only country that was teleported to Earth?" "Hmm? Oh, yes, the Crystal Empire was also teleported with us. Why they came with us was probably because our two nations share the same continent." Luna responded. "I'm terribly sorry if this is a bit sudden, but the Crystal Empire is also interested in joining the meeting in the UN headquarters. So, if possible, could you inform this to the government, ambassador?" Celestia asked. "Of course, I will inform my government. Though, they might take the new revelation of another country as... well, shocking to say the least." Alex answered. As Alex and Celestia discuss with each other, a certain admiral rubs his head in frusturation. "This is a very unexpected development..." Jordy muttered to himself. Breakfast with the royal family continued. Marines and sailors eating and conversing with each other and sometimes, even with the ponies. Everything was going smoothly until suddenly, Starlight smacked her newspaper onto the table very loudly, causing everyone, both human and pony alike, to stop in their activities and look at the source of the sound. "Woah... what got her riled up?" Asked a sailor. "I have no bucking clue..." Responded a pony. ... "What's wrong Starlight?" Twilight asked, concerned for her 'friend'. "What's wrong? What's wrong?! J-just look at this!" Starlight said out loud. Starlight showed Twilight a newspaper sheet to her. On one of its pages, it shows a photo of Starlight and Twilight at the hotel where they are temporarily staying in Manehattan. The photo shows Twilight and Starlight in a... very questionable position. The photo itself seems to have been taken from the roof of the building next to the hotel they stayed in. "What the buck!" Twilight exclaimed. Jordy and some very observant marines could have sworn they saw some kind of steam coming out of Twilight's head like those olden days train whistles. "WHY?! Why do they keep doing this?!" Twilight cried out. As Starlight and Celestia tried to calm Twilight down, Princess Luna unknowingly said something very disturbing relating to the situation. "I keep telling you, Celestia, freedom of speech was a mistake..." Luna said nonchalantly. And with the words coming out of Luna's mouth, the plaza became eerily silent and awkward. The room getting ever slightly more tense. Luna's words took the humans by surprise, especially ambassador Alex. Even though these ponies have extraordinary cosmic powers, they do not value freedom of speech, something that is not ideal to say directly in front of american patriots. From a distance, one of the sailors made a comment to his new pony friend. "Uh, hey, is your night princess always so... I don't know, awful?" The same sailor from before would ask. "Shh, quiet down! If the princess hears that, we'll both be in trouble." The same pony would quietly warn him. Back to the main area, before Alex started trying to stand up and walk straight in front of Luna to give her a piece of his mind, the admiral suddenly patted Alex on the back and forced him back down on the chair, causing the somewhat angered ambassador to cease his attempts of arguing. Breakfast was once again running back to normal, no hitches whatsoever, though with some tension caused by the ever beloved lunar princess. After breakfast was finished, the sailors and human personnel started returning to their ships, saying goodbye to their otherwordly friends. Princess Celestia gave a brief explanation about the Crystal Empire and its location, history, and industry to the ambassador. After a few minutes of explanation, Alex then returned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt to notify this development to the United States government. =///Washington D.C.\\\= President Adam was sitting in his office in the oval room of the White House. He was reading a document about further report and developments regarding contact between the United States and Equestria. From what scientific personnel have gathered, the history between Equestria and Earth has many parallels. The first is about the history of the United Province of Coltlombia which basically resembles the United States. The difference between them and the US is that they failed their attempted revolution due to the intervention of the alicorn monarch. Speaking of alicorns, the scientific community is astonished by the fact that they have lived for over two thousand years. They have absolute power over a country that is now essentially the largest country in the world. Equestria is estimated to have an land area of ​​27,109,000 kilometers which is incredibly huge. They still don't know the exact total population of the United Kingdom of Equestria, experts estimate between 300-400 million based on satellite photos. What caught their attention the most was the history of the other regions of Equestria. The Equestrians have a total of more than 150 provinces in their nation, all the names of the provinces in Equestria having identical names of countries or states from around the world. Starting from Cantada, Prance, Germane, Russea, Norwigail, Mongcoltlia, Cheina, Indoneighsia, Broazil, Austailia, Mareocco, Ethioponia, Endia, Pakestan, Maresia, Neigherlands, Vietnaem, Sapin, Portegoese, Itaily, Greeci, Turlkey, Fillypine, to Kurea, all divided into four distinct cultural areas that is Coltlombia, Eroponian, Africolt, Asina. All these provinces also have their own history which is identical to their human counterpart. Historians who are on the scientific team say that they found part of the history of Equestria about the 'Prench Revolution', 'Coltlombian Revolution', 'Prench Germenenian War', 'First Europonian war', 'Second European War', 'Bullgaria Revolution', 'Pulish Revolution', 'Austallia Emu War', 'Cheina Japonies War', 'Endia Pakestan War. Adam and the Defense secretary in the meeting room were shocked to hear about reports of the existence of a pony version of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. This nation's culture is basically a melting pot. It's like all civilizations on Earth were squeezed into one continent. Even after that, the political theorists say that it is impossible for a country of this magnitude to be ruled by an absolute monarch and survive for more than two thousand years. Though, all of this was dwarfed by the information they got about the method of mass destruction made by the alicorn: Princess Luna. During the final round of the Second Europonian war in 0945 CLD, Princess Luna dropped 500 meters of moon rock upon the cities of Haysroshima and Nagusake to force the Japonies to surrender. The reason why the alicorn princess chose this drastic choice was because it was revealed that ponies living in Kurea, Cheina, Indoneighsia and the Fillypines province were being dealt with inhumanely under Japony occupation. They became seriously worried about the alicorn's cosmic power because American anti-ICBM systems or anti-satellite missiles did not have enough explosive power to destroy a 500 meter moon rock. In other words, the US arsenal was basically deemed useless if the lunar alicorn were to suddenly turn against them. They could only hope to be on the Equestrian's good side, or at the very least, develop a weapon strong enough to counter a 500 meter moon rock. If things couldn't get any worse, they got news from the ambassador that Equestria wasn't the only country that was teleported to Earth. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but it still made his job much more difficult. The country was called the Crystal Empire and they didn't gain much knowledge about the 'Crystal Empire', only that they were located in the north of the continent. The results of satellite photos revealed the existence of settlements and cities in the northern part of the continent. Assuming that they were indeed part of the Crystal Empire, the territory size of the the empire is estimated to be at 2,700,000 square kilometers, about the same as Kazakhstan. Adam ordered his staff to prepare for the arrival of additional guests, the US must, and MUST, have good relations with these alien ponies. Adam didn't want to take any action that might provoke them until sufficient defenses against them could be developed. For now, diplomacy will do because if that fails, they might have a very large moon rock headed towards Earth... =///FOX 'NEWS'\\\= At FOX NEWS, the station was hosting an interview with a very... loud citizen. "What is the president thinking? Letting aliens set foot on American soil? They are a monarch, it goes against everything the US stands for! America has always been the beacon of democracy, the arrival of an monarch with absolute power will RUIN the Land of the Free!" A very strong southern accent would be heard. "By the way, is it true that they are responsible for changing the position of the solar system?" Asked the interviewer. "That is complete and utter BULLSHIT! Only Jesus can do something so powerful! It's probably just fake news spread by leninists and communist advocates!" The man would say before turning to the camera, pointing his finger towards it. "To all American patriots, we can't let these alien ponies set their hooves in America! I mean, damn it, just look at their hair! They have multi colorful hair! That clearly means they are leftist!" "The Earth was created by God to only be inhabited by humans, not these... alien ponies!" =///CNN\\\= "Good afternoon everyone, my name is Frederick Barnes, here to inform the public about all the things needed to be known by the public. Just hours ago, thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the White House to oppose the president's decision to allow the aliens who call themselves Equestrians to come to America." He would pause before speaking. "Ahem, we have Alexia on the ground reporting live from the scene. So Alexia, can you explain what these demonstrators want?" The footage would then change to a female reported holding a microphone. Hundreds, if not thousands would be shown just behind the ground reporter. "Yes Frederick, they all say that they want the president to demand compensation for loss of Hawaii and many want the president to threaten the aliens with nuclear weapons if they refuse. Now keep in mind, if we were to threaten nuclear warfare with an unknown species, the US will be deemed the aggressor on the world stage." She would comment. "I also heard that they don't want America to humble themselves against these aliens because they are only guests at Earth and must submit to humanity. Already, there are anti-alien groups popping up across the US and around the world. The most famous one is the Human Over Aliens which has garnered over 20,000 people worldwide." She would say. "That's a very bold demand and an interesting development. If I'm not mistaken, the testimony from the leader of the alien ponies came by an anomalous incident and were are not responsible for the loss of Hawaii, is that true?" The man would ask. "Yes, that is true. Though unfortunately, many people, including some experts, say that this is, and I quote, 'a stupid act to keep us distracted'." "Interesting, interesting... what technological capabilities do you think they have achieved?" "Many have speculated that these aliens have access to nuclear weapons, some even say that they are a space-faring race, but we still cannot confirm whether or not information is true." "Now, if I may add something to the sitution, it is that humanity must not act this way. If the people are to continue their demonstrations and clearly show hatred towards the aliens, we might be seeing something on a scale humanity has never seen. This Alexia, CNN, signing off..." =/// Manehattan Airport \\\= It was 9 AM at Manehattan Airport. It's actually not a normal airport that humans are used to, it was different. Since the Equestrians had never invented the airplane, this airport serves to accommodate airships and not airplanes. Ambassador Alex and the aircraft maintenance crew are waiting for the C-17 Globemaster to land here. All of this was due to the fundamental changes made by Princess Celestia, due to the sudden notification that the leader of the Crystal Empire intends to attend a meeting at the UN headquarters. They had to cancel the flight with their airship which was supposed to be done yesterday. Since the Crystal Empire was more than 9000 kilometers from Manehattan, they had to take a 12 hour train ride. Therefore, flights using airships will not be able to arrive on schedule due to time constraints. The American government ordered the US air force to deploy a C-17 Globemaster to try to come to Manhattan Airport. Maintenance crew from the USS Theodore Roosevelt will carry out maintenance and refueling there. When Empress Cadence arrived at the Manehattan train station, she was greeted by Princess Celestia and Ambassador Alex. Alex saw that Cadance was really thin. Alright, maybe not THAT thin where someone would consider her malnourished, but thin enough to be noticeable. She had a really slim waist, probably even slimmer than Twilight's. Alex then questioned himself, he shouldn't be thinking about that. After trying to clear his mind, they all went to their destination, the meeting room. After walking and chatting for several minute, they arrived at the mayor's building to discuss. They went inside and went into meeting room in the building. She had several conversations with the ambassador, mainly about more extended knowledge of the Crystal Empire such as their economy, industry, and the Crystal Ponies, that really interested him. After several minutes of discussion, the Empress of the Crystal Empire agreed to open diplomatic relations with the United States. All of this was because Cadance wanted to quickly open up trade with humans so she would have enough money to finance her little project of colonialism in the north. Halfway through the talk, the ambassador asked Princess Celestia if there were going to be any government problems in Equestria if all royal members leave. Princess Celestia said that everything would be fine and explained that this was not the first time the entire royal family had left Equestria. She also explained that the provincial government was more than capable of solving their own domestic problems without the help of them. She also said that Equestria has a contingency plan and protocol in case the entire royal family disappears or dies. This plan was truly fulfilled with secrecy, even Luna and Twilight don't know the true details of this plan. (In this Equestria AU, Sunset didn't sneak away to the mirror world, Tia hides her assertion so Equestria has a plan in case of an emergency.) (Yeah, she's still as cocky as in the comics) They then went to Manehattan airport to wait for the plane to land. Based on the size of Manehattan airport, which is estimated to be 1,100 meters, they believe the C-17 can land there, if barely. After they waited for a few hours, they finally got to see the C-17 starting to appear on the Horizon. They had asked alicorn princess to ensure that the airspace over Manehattan was clear of any airships and in response, the alicorn princess did indeed clear the airspace of any airships. After the C-17 landed, the alicorns looked dumbfounded, even Luna looked dumbfounded, if only slightly. They had never seen an airplane before, unless you count the 'jet' incident. Princess Twilight, being the ever curious princess she is, kept asking Alex on how the plane works. They never imagined that an object this large could fly at a speed of 800 kilometers per hour. Alex, being an ambassador, said to Twilight that he didn't exactly know it works, but she could ask the pilots on board the C-17 the questions. At first, the alicorns, especially Luna, was a little reluctant to fly on the airplane. Luckily, Alex, after spending hours talking with different countries and playing hours of Roblox's version of Phoenix Wright, managed to convince them that the plane was safe to fly and was the most common type of air transportation on Earth with a very low accident rate. "Low accident rate?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow towards the ambassador. "Don't worry, Princess Luna, the chances of the planes having an accident is close to 1:10,000,000!" He exaggerated, hoping that he convinced her. "If you say so, ambassador..." Luna said. After successfully persuading the alicorns to board the plane, they brought over 15 guards. 5 of them were from Crystal Empire, the rest were from Equestria. They also brought in several selected pony scientists and mages from Manehattan University. Twilight also personally took Starlight on the trip too. After boarding the plane, they began strapping themselves to their seats. In the process, they had a bit of trouble getting their seat belts on because the belts were designed to accommodate people and not ponies, but luckily, the humans helped them fasten their seat belts. "Haha, for a scientist, you sure don't know how to work something something simple as a seatbelt." A pilot of the C-17 would say, strapping the pony scientist in. The pony scientist would look at him as if he were stupid. "Hooves, human, I have hooves" She would say with a smirk, raising both her front-hooves to show the pilot. "Oh..." WWHHHOOOOMMMM... After everything was ready, the plane started activating its engine, it was really loud, this somewhat hurts the hearing of the ponies, especially the Lunar Guard. After a few minutes, the intercom came to life and with it, a voice was heard. "Welcome to Air 'Merica, I'll be your captain for today's trip. The weather outside is... warm, wind speed is... windy, and all that jazz! Our destination will be in an airport in Washington DC, capital of the the US. Snacks will NOT be handed out so if you're hungry, too bad..." The pilot would pause. "Aw, now that he mentioned it, I'm hungry..." A pony would be heard muttering to himself. "Now, as THE first aircraft to host an alien species, I greet you all with friendliness. Alright, now sit tight and enjoy the ride. Oh, and don't forget to cover your ears, hehe..." The pilot would say before turning off the intercom. "Would have liked to know that earlier but I guess it's too late..." Twilight Sparkle would comment, causing some of the humans and ponies to chuckle. The plane was successfully airborne and the ponies in the cabin then let out a sigh of relief. "I have to admit, this is very advanced contraception, this 'aircraft' is faster than our airship." Luna complimented. Alex, surprised by the compliment from the lunar princess, responded in kind. "Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness." "Of course, this makes me want to know more about your nation." Luna said. It was quiet for a moment, the only things being heard was the engine. The silence was then broken by Princess Celestia. "Excuse me, Ambassador Alex, I have a question." Celestia would suddenly say. Alex turned towards Princess Celestia, curious as to what she had to ask. "Yes?" He would simply respond. "This is regarding your fleet. While we're away, what will happen to the fleet that came with you?" She would ask. This caught the other pony's attention, including Princess Luna who seemed to grow suspicious of the human. "Yes, ambassador, what will happen to your fleet...?" Luna would say. Ambassador Alex was caught off guard by the question, he completely forgot the fleet entirely. Luckily, before leaving, he had a chat with the admiral concerning their stay. "Well, they will stay at the port for a few days, grow relationships and help the inhabitants of Manehattan while waiting for our return." Alex would answer back. Celestia and the other ponies liked the answer, building relationships and helping did indeed sound nice. Luna meanwhile still showed suspicion and was not sure of the human's true intentions. If they were lying, they would answer to her personally... The flight went smoothly without any problems. The only thing that happened was when Twilight tried to sneak into the cockpit of the plane to see how the plane was being controlled. She was, of course, caught by the flight crews, but under the permission of the plane's captain, she was allowed to see the cockpit as long as she didn't touch anything. After some more than 6 hours of flight, they finally arrived in Washington D.C. The ponies look impressed by the scenery, skyscrapers and towers seem to reach the clouds and designs that appear to rival, or exceed even the most tallest buildings in Equestria. This is because in 2024, congress finally decided to revoke the ban on the building hight restrictions. When the plane landed at the Washington Dulles International Airport, the ponies were greeted with red carpets and dozens of secret service agents and national guardsmen standing guard for security. Just feet away were hundreds of reporters from news stations and outlets across America, several reporters from foreign countries were also there to report this historic news. Even further were civilians, wanting to see their new neighbours. Some of them were even protestors, but were dwarfed by the much larger population of curious humans. "This is CNBC, the leader of the alien nation called Equestria has finally arrived in Washington DC. Many people are concerned about the potential for infection from foreign organisms that may be lethal to humans, but according to investigations from the CDC and the expedition team from first contact, these Equestrians did not contain any harmful organisms to humans. In fact, the bacteria they found from these Equestrians were completely identical to organisms on Earth." "Это 'Русский сегодня', сегодня мы сообщаем исторические новости, инопланетяне, идентифицирующие себя как наездники, прибыли в Вашингтон, округ Колумбия, Президент Маразов до сих пор не дал своего ответа и реакции на то, что Америка стала первой страной в мире, которую посетили инопланетяне." "速報 馬術家を名乗る宇宙人がついにアメリカに上陸、残念ながら日本が最初の国になれないことに総理は落胆, 国防長官は、友好のしるしとして騎馬隊のリーダーに触手モンスターを見せてみたいと言いました。" "Hôm nay Alien pony đến Mỹ thăm tổng thống Mỹ, họ định mở quan hệ ngoại giao với Mỹ, các diễn viên khiêu dâm từ khắp nơi trên thế giới bắt đầu sáng tạo nghệ thuật giả tưởng dựa trên cơ thể người ngoài hành tinh." The highway from the airport in Washington D.C. was basically littered with vehicles. Ranging from reporters, curious civilians, and protestors who reject the arrival of aliens to America. Due to the heavy traffic, the Equestrians and the ambassador have to get on a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in order to get to the White House. This time, the Equestrians were even more uncomfortable and even really scared, especially the pegasi. They were all afraid that they will be killed by the blades of the helicopter. Even Celestia and Luna kepth their heads down because of fear that their horns might get hit. Luckily, the pilot controlling the helicopter is a veteran of the 'Blackhawk Down' incident in Somalia. He knows how to calm the ponies' anxieties. He grabbed a tuner and plugged it into the helicopter headphones that all the passengers wore on the flight. He then put on a song that has always been a favorite of helicopter pilots around the world. After several minutes of flight from the airport to the White House, they finally arrived and started and landed in the backyard of the White House. All the ponies quickly dismounted, some of the crystal royal guards kissed the ground because they really never flew like this before. Celestia fixed her gaze on the White House, she saw that the building which was the residence of the leader of this nation was quite small and simple compared to the other buildings surrounding it. 'Maybe he prefers simplicity?' Celestia says in her mind. The four alicorn monarchs, a small guard escort, and the ambassador then entered the White House where they were escorted by dozens of secret service agents. The rest of the guards and the teams of scientists and mages brought to America were instructed to stay outside the White House for security reasons. Twilight puts Starlight in charge of the ponies outside temporarily. When the ponies and the ambassador continued through the hallway, Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Cadance could see that the walls of this building's hallway were filled with historical paintings and stuff. The photos reminded them of their visit to the Faris National Museum in Prance. By the time they got to the president's room, Celestia, the other alicorn monarchs, and the guards were completely shocked. Instead of a luxurious and elegant throne room, what they found was a simple small room with a table and chairs in the middle. "A-are we in the right room?" Twilight asked, stuttering in the first bit since she was so shocked. "We mustn't be. This room has to be some sort of... secretary room, that's it! Hey, lets ask that human over there." Luna said. Alex turned to Luna to tell her that this was indeed the right room, but he was too late, Luna turned towards the human in the middle of the room and asked him a question. "Excuse me, mister human, can you properly point us towards the president's room?" Luna would ask nicely. The human looked at her, a bit confused, before chuckling at the pony princess. The other humans in the room began to chuckle as well, even Alex joined in. This confused Luna and the other ponies, why were they laughing? "Excuse me, why are you laughing? Is there something on my face? I'll have you know that I have to meet with the president of this human nation." Luna would say, a bit offended that they were chuckling at her. The human she talked to raised his hands, causing the other humans to settle down, before smiling. He walked towards the ponies and held out a hand. "Sorry for laughing at you, Your Highness, my name is Adam Wright, the 47th president of the United States. I know this room isn't as grand as you would expect but it does the job. I welcome you all to the United States and our planet, Earth." Adam said, still smiling. Luna and the other ponies were caught off guard by this. The leader of the United States was wearing the same attire as the ambassador. She expected the president to be covered in gold jewerly, fitted with the most finest wears. All that the ponies saw was just another man who happened to be the leader. "I did try to tell you, Princess Luna." Alex would say. Princess Celestia would walk towards Adam Wright and raised a hoof to shake his hand. "Thank you kindly, President Adam Wright, my name is Celestia Radiants, Princess of Equestria." Celestia answered, shaking his hand with her hood before lowering it. Adam then turned towards the lunar princess. "And you must be Princess Luna Night Given, I'm glad to see you here, despite our first interactions." Adam said. "Thank you, I am also glad to see you as well. I must say, this is a very simple room for a nation leader like you. I must also apologize, I wasn't expecting you to be the president." Luna answered "It's fine, I can see why you mistakened me for a random human." Then finally, Adam turned towards the two last alicorns. "You must be Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to meet you. You though, you're the one from the new nation. I'm sorry if I don't know your name, I might have forgotten it." Adam Wright apologized. "Oh, it's fine, President Adam Wright, my name is Empress Mi Amore Cadenza, or Empress Cadance for short." Cadance said, smiling towards the human. "Thank you, President Adam Wright, it's so nice to be here in the nation that came into contact with us. From what I saw, it's very advanced and large." Twilight would comment. "Haha, we aim to please, Princess Twilight." Adam Wright would say towards Twilight Sparkle. "And I'm glad to learn your name, Empress Cadance." Adam Wright would say towards the Crystal Empire empress. "Now, lets settle down and discuss some things." Adam Wright would motion for everyone to sit down. They all began to sit on the couches and started talking for more than an hour. The guards there, both human and pony, were instructed to stay outside the room while they talk. First, they discussed how to build diplomatic relations and communication between Equestria and the United States. Celestia told Adam that they would be more than willing to provide land in Canterlot for the construction of an American embassy there. At first, Princess Luna was reluctant about it, but eventually allowed for it to happen. Cadance also has the same interest in opening diplomatic relations with America. She also offered land in their capital city for the construction of an American embassy there as well. Next was about Equestria's and the Crystal Empire's economic integration with Earth. They explained that the inclusion of the both nation's economy would essentially boost the global economy by about 20.78%, but since the Equestria currency is basically a pure gold coin, they are a bit worried that this will degrade, or possibly crash the global gold market. In order to prevent that, they tried to offer both nations to try and change their currency from gold coins to standard banknotes like those used in all countries in the world. At first, the alicorns were a bit unwilling, contemplating the idea that paper would become the country's main currency, especially Luna who expressed security concerns about using paper as currency and Cadance who was worried about possible inflation. They explained that banknotes, especially modern ones, are actually superior compared to coins and have various security features to prevent counterfeiting. About inflation, it only depends on the country itself. If they print too much money, the currency will decrease and vice versa. The secretary from the United States Treasury department advised Princess Celestia and Empress Cadance to have almost all the gold coins in Equestria and Crystal Empire to be melted down into gold bricks and kept as a reserve in case of inflation or an economic crash. The third discussion is about technology transfer. Princess Twilight expressed her curiosity and interest in human technology. She hopes to have the US export their most advanced technologies. They want to import technology they have never developed before. From electronics such as computers, television and smartphone, and to locomotives like cars, engine powered ships, and airplanes. The United States say that they will agree to import their advanced technology, excluding advanced weaponry, as long as Equestria and the Crystal Empire exports their magic technology and knowledge to the US. Unfortunately, Luna started to have a bit of an argument between the president. "Both sides will benefit, Princess Luna. You get advanced technology to integrate, improve, and adjust upon and we get magical technology that we too can integrate, improve, and adjust. I don't see how this would be unfair." Adam Wright would say. "President Adam Wright, I would say that this deal would be sort of unfair. Yes, we may get advanced technology but no advanced weaponry? You have to understand, President Adam Wright, your nation has the upper hand here. We're willing to give your nation magical technology that's outdated by our standards if advanced weaponry is off the table." Luna answered back. "I beg to differ, Princess Luna, your nation is still quite new to all of us. Getting advanced weaponry would need much more time and better relations between our two nations. Besides, you already get our most advanced civilian technology which will greatly improve your ponies' well-being tenfold! Once again, I don't see how this is unfair." Adam Wright would argue back. Luna would look at the president, a slight look of annoyance on her face. She was growing tired of this... petty arguement. "Hmph, if you refuse our generous offer, then we will just look for another nation who will agree to this deal. Though I am not aware of your nation's rivalry, I'm willing to bet that they are more than willing to take our offer if it arises..." Everyone who heard the Luna's word looked at her, shocked. The other alicorns would look at Luna with a look of surprise, they would have never expected her to act this way. The president, Ambassador Alex, and the other humans were worried, they wanted to build good relations with Equestrian, they wanted America to be the first country on Earth to successfully reverse engineer magic. With a heavy heart, they just had to accept the offer. Luna would smirk as the pen from the president was lifted. The pen slowly coming to the papers to make the agreements official. Though, before it touched the paper, Alex told the president to stop for a bit, causing Luna and the others to raise an eyebrow. "Please, can you just reconsider this offer? Maybe even some of your magical technology from after that time period? It could still be considered outdated by your standards and this deal would be fair. In your perspective, our technology is leagues ahead of your own. It would be fair if we got some of your magical technology after 1,000 CLD, even if it were close to that time period." Alex would try to persuade her. "I admire your will to make this agreement 'fair', Alex, but we could say the same as well. If your nation won't offer advanced weaponry, we won't offer advanced magical technology, simple as that..." Luna would reply. She had a point there, the humans had to agree with that. With a look of failure, Alex turned towards the president and nodded his head, causing the president to lower the pencil onto the paper and sign the papers. After that, the foreign secretary provided documents finalizing the opening of diplomatic relations, trade agreements and technology exports between the United States, the United Kingdom of Equestria, and the Crystal Empire. After everything has been discussed and signed, the four alicorns and everyone else left the Oval Room. From there, they will be directed to stay at the Blair House to spend their night before they finally went to attend the UN meeting in New York City which will be done tomorrow morning. "Shit, I can't believe this, we're going to give up our latest technology just for their thousand years old magic scrap?" The director of the newly founded United States Thaumaturgy-Technology Organization would complain. "Oh come on, this is better than nothing. Do you want China to be the first to reverse engineer magic?" The president would say. "N-no sir, it's just that I feel our nation is being robbed by this agreement." The director would reply. The president would sigh before answering back. "I know, but I'm sure with enough time, we can develop something that can rival them. I mean, we're humans, we've invented nuclear power, we've established bases on our moon, we even began heading to Mars! Outdated magical technology or not, we will learn, advance, improve, and use it for the betterment of our species, possibly even for our new neighbors..." The director would smirk at the president, a look of determination on his face. "You're damn right, mister president..." As the ponies and Alex began heading towards their destination, the pony scientists and mages began speaking excitedly with each other, the amount of advanced technology they will get to see and learn would basically keep them up at night, just like how a human child would stay up to see Santa Claus. The guards on the other hoof were just being guards, being stoic and all, but they still talked with each other. As they all continued walking, Celestia began nearing her sister. Luna, who already knew what was going to happen, sighed heavily and spoke with her sister before she got the chance to talk. "I know what I did was wrong, Celestia, but it had to be done." Luna would say. "Had to be done? What had to be done? Both our nations would still benefit equally even without their weaponry. Please, for the love of Faust, give me one good reason as to why you had to be like that in front of the United State's leader and possibly stain our relationship with them." Celestia would ask, waiting to see what her sister had to say. "Why I had to do it, Celestia? Well, it's simple, dear sister, I wanted us to be seen as not weak, to be seen that we are not to be messed with. We had to show them that we had the upper hoof and from the looks of it, it would seem I did a great job." Luna would say proudly. Celestia was dumbfounded. She chose to risk the relationships between their nations just to show them that they were not weak? That the ponies of Equestria and the Crystal Empire were to not be messed with? "Luna... you could have stained our relationship between our nations. Why? Just to show that we're not weak? We've already shown them that we're not weak by the fact we are capable of moving their solar system!" Celestia would say loudly, catching the attention of everyone around them. Celestia would look around and would take a moment to calm herself down. "Luna, we're trying to live in their world. We're trying to build friendly relationships with everyone on this planet just like we did back on Equus. Please, for the love of Faust, stop acting this way so that both our species can live without any tensions..." Celestia would plead with her sister. Luna looked at Celestia, her face unchanged. "I'll think about it, dear sister, but if we are to be viewed as easy to manipulate and control by the other nations of this... Earth, I'll be there to change their minds about it." Luna would say. Celestia would sigh before simply nodding towards her sister. She would turn towards everyone else and motion for them to keep walking. The atmosphere within the group is relaxed, if only a little bit tense. As they kept walking, Celestia would look at the sky above, they already changed the day into night while heading towards their place of stay. Celestia hoped that everything will be alright... > un'United Nations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =/// Washington D.C.\\\= After the signing of the agreement on opening diplomatic relations and technology and magic transfer between the Equestrians and the American government, the four Alicorn monarchs, the pony scientists, and the pony guards were then invited to take a tour around Washington D.C. To put it simply, they are completely astonished and in awe of almost anything that the humans show them. For the first part of the tour, they were invited to visit the National Museum of American History in the National Mall. From there, they were told about the history of how the United States of America was formed. To their surprise, the history of the United States of America was completely identical to that of the United Province of Coltlombia. Cadance, Twilight and the other ponies on tour found it particularly interesting and began to speculate on how this could be possible. Meanwhile, Celestia and Luna pulled back their memories of the horrors that happened in that era, namely when the ponies at Bostone deliberately dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor and how Luna instantly vaporized the bodies of revolutionary leader, Gourge Whinnyton and his rebel troops as they tried to cross the Daylaware River. Everything got worse when they started to enter the World War 2 era. The worst atrocities that have ever happened in the history of mankind also apparently happened and suffered by ponykind as well. The Japonese Noble family declared the founding of the Japonese Empire before attacking Gems Harbour and how Edolf Hetler invaded the province of Puland then knocked Prance out of the war after they passed through the Erdannes forest on 25 June 0940 CLD. Celestia had never forgiven herself for allowing all of that to happen, to let such acts of brutality go unnoticed. She had seen the letters, the notes stacking up hour by hour, day by day, but she thought it was from some inpatient noble, a pony she can always attend to at another time. Alas, that was not the case, and it was all her fault, all because she was too busy enjoying the cake and drinking tea. Luna could not hold back her tears when she found out how America ended the second world war. Even with the similarities regarding both their histories somehow being near identical, she hoped that it would be different, hoped that it was through peace instead of through... mass destruction. Unfortunately, that was not the case, the humans created a weapon that had the same destructive effect as the method she used during the final round of the Second Europonian War. The Luna in that era had no choice but to drop moonstones on the Japonies city to force them to surrender. Even with good intentions, not many of her subjects saw it that way. Many creatures, ranging from her own ponies to the Kirins down south considered her a 'devil' after eliminating Hayroshima and Nagusake from the face of the Equus, it was one of the main factors that led to the Lunar schism on December 30, 0999 CLD. The grief of the two Alicorn sisters did not go unnoticed, Ambassador Alex who was assigned to accompany Equestrian on their tour in Washington D.C. noticed their sorrow. Although he is not a fan of Luna because of what she said during breakfast at Manehattan Plaza, he isn't a heartless bastard. Out of concern, he asked Luna and her sister as to why they suddenly turned sad when they learnt of American history. He knew that American history wasn't all sunshines and rainbows, but this sort of reaction raised some concerns for the human ambassador. "Is there a problem, Your Highness?" Alex asked. "W-what? Oh... of course not, ambassador, there's nothing wrong, we're fine." Luna lied, trying her best to not look nervous. The ambassador looked at her, unconvinced about her words. He may not be an empath, but that stutter made it pretty clear to him that something was wrong. "Princess Luna, out of respect, you're not hiding this well." He says with a sigh. He continues on. "Look, I may not be the ideal person to talk about this, but as an ambassador, I feel obligated to know what's wrong so we can try and avoid such a thing in the future. Though, this seems like a personal problem and if you want to keep this to yourselves, that's fine." The group suddenly went silent noticing the princesses' emotions. They ranged from the pony scientists, the pony guards, Twilight and Cadance, and the human escorts. The ponies, having served under the princesses, have never seen them like this. Twilight and Cadance could say the same as well. The humans were kind of surprised to see the princesses like this, they've never seen someone of royalty show this type of emotion in public. "Ambassador... I'm glad you're concerned for us, but honestly, we're fi-" Luna was about to say, but was cutoff by her sister. "Actually... there is a problem. It's about the parallels in American history with history of our nation, including the... bitter part. We also experience the same suffering too, though on a more personal level, it just comes with immortality... It brings back so many of our bad memories we ourselves tried hard to forget." Celestia answered. The ambassador and the group looked at the two alicorns with sympathy. They knew they were immortal, but they never thought about the mental pain of being alive for so long. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" He asked, hoping that he did not trigger another emotion. Celestia and Luna looked at each other, contemplating whether or not to tell him. After some time, Luna spoke up. "We had a similar war to your 'World War Two', ambassador. It was called the Second Europonian War." Luna says before letting her sister speak up. "We tried to prevent it, but we failed so many of our subjects. Many innocent ponies died because of our negligence." Celestia added. "When we learnt of the horrors that we allowed to happen on our watch, we were full of anger, like a bull when we show them the colour red. We immediately headed towards the provinces that were under control and we annihilated them. Two of the three province surrendered, only the Japonies were left." Luna says. "So... in order to end this horrific war, I myself utilized weapons of mass destruction. Though, instead of 'snapping the atom', I used some parts of my own moon to end the lives of thousands of innocent Japonies to end the war..." Alex looked at Luna with sympathy, so did the rest of the group. They couldn't imagine doing such a horrific thing to thousands of innocent creatures and having to live through it all. "I'm terribly sorry to hear that..." Alex said solemnly. Celestia simply smiled weakly while Luna returned with a nod. "It's fine, ambassador. We've learned to let the past stay in the past and to just... live for those who we failed." ... After they finished their tour of the museum, the Americans invited the Equestrians to visit a luxury mall in the center of Washington. From there, they would show a wide range of consumer goods to the Equestrians. By the time Equestrians came across the mall, they were in for treat. The Tysons Galleria Mall is much bigger than the luxury malls in Equestria. The products sold at the mall are basically technological marvels, selling a wide variety of luxury goods from around the world, ranging from something as simple as clothes, pants and shoes, to electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, and computers. Princess Twilight, being the very curious pony princess she is, quickly tried buying various electronic devices and science books from the bookstore in the mall. The other ponies on the tour also tried to buy something for themselves along the way. Of course, they're having trouble trying to pay for all the stuff they buy because hardly any ponies carry any American money with them. Alex informs the ponies that the US Government will pay for all purchases, but Princess Celestia and Luna refused the offer and chose to pay using their own money which they kept in their pocket dimensions. In the end, the various vendors in the mall found their cash registers full of pure gold coins which were probably more valuable than the items the Equestrians had bought from them. Of course, they aren't complaining, they just gained pure gold from their alien neighbours. The humans who were visiting the mall at that time were really surprised to see the alien ponies coming to shop at the mall. Out of instinct, they all took out their phones to take photos of the unique sight. The ponies saw this, but didn't pay it much mind. After finishing shopping at the mall, they all went to the Blair House which is also known as The President's Guest House. It's the world's most exclusive hotel because it is primarily used as a state guest house to host visiting dignitaries and other foreign guests. When they got there, Ambassador Alex and the tour staff showed their respective rooms to stay for the night. Some of the humans at Blair House also tried teaching the Equestrians on how to use a phone. To their surprise, using a phone turns out to be really easy, unless you're an earth pony. The pegasi still can hold their cellphones easily with their wings (somehow their feathers can act as fingers), and the unicorns can use their magic. Now, that doesn't mean the earth ponies still couldn't use their phones. With some help from the humans and some time, the earth ponies were able to use their phones decently. The ponies were all really surprised by the usefulness of the cellphone, especially the scientists, they were basically drooling with how useful it is. From doing calculations using a calculator, putting music, taking photos, and watching moving pictures that humans call 'videos'. The humans also show them on how to make calls and create email accounts. Princess Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Cadance were truly amazed by this small device. The fact that this device was able to do so many things without using magic was extraordinary to them. Unfortunately in the middle of using the device, they made a mistake, a mistake that they will regret for the rest of their lives. They downloaded Twitter. The ambassador told them that this app is a place where humans 'interact' and 'socialize' with the 'society', but apparently it was the worst place they had ever seen, worse than Tartarus or Limbo. As Celestia downloaded the app and began typing a harmless sentence, one human noticed this and began panicking. "Woah! Hold on! Don't you DARE post anything on there, princess!" He yells out, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Celestia gave the human a confused look. The human's collegues seemed to try and dissuade him from doing whatever he was doing, but he didn't care, he had to stop it. "How so? I heard that the app was used to socialize and interact with human society. What could be wrong with that?" Celestia asks. The human simply shook his head before responding. "It may be sunshines and rainbows on the outside, princess, but it's absolute Hell on the inside... Please, for the good of your sanity, don't..." He would warn. Celestia looked at her new device, the sentence she was typing was already finished, all she had to do was send it. She then looked towards the human, his eyes would seem to plead with her, to not post anything. She hesitated for a bit, should she really post this? As she was in deep thought, Twilight came up to her. "Princess Celestia, as the only Princess of Friendship, I suggest sending that message. It'll show the people of this planet that we're friendly and what better way to do it by sending a message to billions across the globe!" Twilight would say cheerily. "Yeah... I guess you have a point there, Twilight." Celestia would say with a smile. Celestia would turn towards the human who spoke to her. "It shouldn't be as bad as you say, mister human. Plus, it's a friendly greeting, what could be wrong with that?" Celestia would say. Before he could answer, Celestia already sent the message in Twitter. With that, he failed to stop the princess from posting a tweet, it was already too late... Within minutes, the entirety of Twitter was quick to ratio her and insult her with all kinds of colorful swear words. There were some friendly sentences here and there, but were overshadowed by the much more louder minority. In her first Tweet, she uses 'everypony' insted 'everybody'. (Something like this) Twitter users from all over the globe criticized the princess's tweet, saying that it was racist and inappropriate. Some of them even began giving her the nickname 'Xeno Princess' who should be executed for committing a crime against the 'Twitter Community'. The level of irony that can be found there is higher than the average American hospital bills. Of course, Princess Celestia tried to deal with the backlash by deleting the tweet and then uploading her apology tweet to Twitter. Sadly, it would seem that no one accepted her apology. Princess Luna tried to defend her sister by saying that this is an inherent pronunciation of the pony language. She also said that the other species living in their original world named 'Equus' had their own pronunciation like 'everyzebra', 'everygriffon', and even 'everyminotaur', but almost every Twitter users refuse to believe her because that would destroy their moral superiority. Cadence and the other ponies, having not posted anything, quickly deleted the cursed app to preserve their sanity. Though, for whatever reason, Celestia, Luna and Twilight decide to stay with the app because despite how incredibly cursed Twitter is, they sill got convenient access to 'information' and 'news' directly from the humans. It is also because Twilight wanted to try and build friendships with the common humans. Though the people on this horrific app were awful, there were actually some decent people on the app that the princesses noticed. Unfortunately, they were overshadowed by the loud minority or are actually the minority themselves. After the whole fiasco, they went to their respective rooms. Celestia hoped that her first tweet would just end up being an online embarrassment and will not cause a national incident that would known globally, but like most stuff on Twitter, some things just don't get ignored... =///CNBC\\\= "Good evening! I'm Patrick Barnes, CNBC. This evening, the entirety of the internet, especially Twitter, went into an uproar recently after the confirmed account of one of the Equestrian leaders named Princess Celestia uploaded her first tweet." *The screen would change to a screenshot of Celestia's tweet which she uploaded to Twitter before being deleted.* "Many people, ranging from your average teenager to society experts, say that this was a very bad first impression which would undoubtedly damage the reputation of the Equestrians who are still new to this world. Many people from all over the globe had already started spreading anti-alien posts after this." "Many predict an increase of anti-alien sentiment around the world would probably double because of this simple friendly gesture. We have received news that the number of protestors who have gathered to protest in Washington is increasing. from five hundred people to a whopping ten thousand protestors. The Washington D.C. Police Department has issued a warning for everyone participating in the protest as violent acts begin to rise in the area. Already, 100 arrests had taken place. It would appear that the situation is slowly spiralling out of control. This is Patrick Barnes, CNBC, signing off." =///The next day, January 9, 2029\\\= It was the second day after the arrival of the Equestrians to the United State of America. It was the day that the leaders of Equestria went to New York City to participate in the meeting at the United Nations Headquarters. At first, they thought everything would go smoothly without any problems, unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case. The American protestors were determined to spoil everything, it is the land of the free after all. The people are free to do whatever things they like, no matter if said things would jeopardize the United States as a whole. American history, as well as that of the world, will never forget what incident happened on January 9, 2029. A day in which thousands of protestors from all over the U.S. and even foreign countries such as the United Kingdom, India, China, Russia, and even people from Norway gathered on the streets of Washington D.C. to protest against the U.S. Government. They reject the opening of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Equestria. They also reject the acceptance or any normalization of aliens in society, seeing it as 'absolutely disgusting' as said from a random protestor. The protestors consisted of various people. It ranged from your average joes, radicals, internet clout hunters, Neo-N@zis, and even members of government. With them, they carried fire torches, hay forks, spears, a portable guillotine, and some even carried firearms such as the famous Bushmaster AR-15 Semiautomatic Rifle. They all used various kinds of clothing, ranging from ordinary everyday clothes, German gray uniforms, and some even use armor and uniform that's straight up from Warhammer 40K and HALO. They all marched towards the Blair House with the intention of targetting the Equestrians. In response, the U.S. Government deployed hundreds of Washington D.C. Police, the Secret Service, and even mobilized the Washington National Guard in an attempt to halt, or at the very least, slow down the approaching mob. ... "This is Washington D.C. Police! For the sake of your well-being and everyone elses, please cease all activities and head home in a peaceful matter! Continuing your march will result in your arrest! Please cease all activities and head home in a peaceful matter!" An officer would yell out on the megaphone as thousands of protestors continued marching. The Washington D.C. Police had already established a defense perimeter around the Blair House with the Secret Service and the Washington National Guard assisting. They've learnt from their mistakes from the Capital Riot and they would not want the same process happening again. "Shut the fuck up you brainwashed bastard!" Cried out one of the protestors. The officer with the megaphone would simply sigh in frusturation. Despite being used to all of this chaos, that doesn't mean he's actually 'used' to it. He raised his megaphone to the front of his mouth to issue yet again another warning. "This is a warning! If you continue marching towards the Blair House, you will be arrested and will be charged fo-" He didn't even finish his sentence as a molotov cocktail came crashing in front of him, the liquids catching aflame. He fell back in surprise as he watched the flames get extinguished by nearby officers. As he regained his composure, the very thing he feared came to life, the charge of thousands of protestors. "Shit! Get to formation and brace for contact!" Yelled out one of the officers. Multiple recruits from the Washington D.C. Police and Washington National Guard seemed to shake in fear, they've never experienced this sort of stuff before, but held their ground as the ever growing horde begins to near. The protestor's yelling in defiance as they charged the perimeter with a determined mind, there was no way to stop them now. As they get closer, the perimeter would seem to tighten in formation, the officers, agents, and national guardsman were ready, but were they ready enough? With that, the Washington D.C. Police, the Secret Service, and the Washington National Guard steeled themselves for the inevitable clash. The clash between order and chaos... ... Sadly, there were so many of them an they were determined and huge in numbers. Many of them managed to slip through the perimeter and lay siege to the Blair House. Officers, agents, and national guardsmen nearby tried to fight off the increasing number of protestors laying siege to the surroundings of the building, but they were getting pushed back. This protest is basically five times as violent as the one that happened on January 6, 2021. A day in which the American citizen thought it was the right time to overthrow their own government. Since all of the streets were basically filled with protestors and police/military blockades, the U.S. Government informed Ambassador Alex, who was at the Blair house at that time, to notify the Equestrians that the United States Air Force would be deploying a CH-50 Chinook for them to be transported. (Note: Blair House is much bigger than the original and also has a helipad.) He quickly went to the room where the Alicorn sisters were staying to tell them to get ready to go to the helipad to wait for the helicopter, by the time he got to their room, he knocked on the door before entering. Inside the room he could see the two Alicorn sisters, both of them staring out the window at the mob demanding for their deaths for over a simple tweet. He could see tears streaming down Celestia's neck while Luna was staring at the crowd with constant frustration and rage. He could even hear the sound of her grinding her teeth. "We came in peace and this is how we're greeted..." Luna would mutter to herself. This made Alex sympathetic to them. Being shamed online is one thing, but seeing hundreds of people asking for your death over a friendly greeting is basically overwhelming. He should have not told the Equestrians to not download that God forsaken app. No one would have thought that the users on Twitter had the audacity to come out of their basement into the real world and do mass protests. Ambassador Alex slowly walked towards the alicorns before speaking. "Your Highness, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I advise you to follow me to the helipad to be transported. As you can see, the situation... developed." Alex said. Celestia wiped away her tears while Luna kept watching the mob, a look of subtle disgust in her eyes. Celestia turned towards the ambassador before speaking. "Oh... I'm terribly sorry, Ambassador Alex, this is all my fault... I should have listened to that human or have been careful about choosing the words I sent on that awful bird app." Celestia apologized. Alex could only look at Celestia with sympathy. He felt awful because he caused all of this in the first place. If his mother saw him now, she'll be disappointed... "Please don't apologize Your Highness, this is not your fault, but my fault entirely. I didn't tell you about how awful Twitter was. The amount of users on there that are so sensitive, it's troubling to say the least..." He sighed before continuing on. "And please, it's also because of your language. Despite being subtle from our own, it's different from ours and it's your own language. No one should blame you for that." Alex said. Celestia sniffled, she wanted to believe that, but she can't bring herself to believe such words. "Still... I was the one who caused your people to be angry, to be enraged to the point where they protest in anger. It was all my fault, ambassador. The level of anger the protestors show is almost on par with the protest that took place in Faris during the Prench Revolution." Celestia replied, a sad look on her face. "Your Highness, you can't blame yourself about how my people react. Once again, it was my fault for telling you about that app and their fault for acting in such a reckless way. Please, for your sake, don't blame yourself... Now, come on, we have to get a move on. It'll be a matter of time until they managed to break through." Alex responded. She didn't know what else to say so in return, she simply gave him a nod. "The ambassador is right, dear sister, don't blame yourself about their actions. These humans seem to react to violence to something they don't like." Luna suddenly said, catching the attention of the two. "And we better hurry and gather the others, it would appear they're managing to break the human's perimeter." Luna would point out, prompting Celestia and the ambassador to agree and get going. Ambassador Alex, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia would knock on each room to gather the rest. They seemed tired when they opened the door, but when they heard the shouting and noises of chaos, they immediately snapped out of their tired stupor. The group would gather whatever item they brought and bought, ranging from their phones to their notes. As they began packing their things, a pony scientist came up to Princess Celestia, a look of nervousness can be seen on his face. "Sorry to bother you, Princess Celestia, but why are they acting this way?" Questioned the pony scientist. Celestia would turn to her subject before responding. "It was m-" She would pause for a moment. She reminded herself that it was not her fault. "It was because these... people are quite sensitive, my little pony." She answered. The pony scientist did not question any further and would nod before trotting away with his items. The other pony scientists and guards followed suit. As Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Cadance, Ambassador Alex, and the rest of the group traverse up the steps, the noise of shouting would grow louder. It would appear that the Washington D.C. Police, the Secret Service, and the Washington National Guard defending the Blair House would not be able to hold them any longer. Some of the protestors had even began to break through the 'last defense' lines before being promptly pushed to the ground and arrested. It would only be a few minutes before they finally break through the perimeter and the 'last defense' line and charge into the Blair House. "This is quite terrible..." Commented Twilight Sparkle. A flurry of agreements would be heard from the ponies. "It quite is, Princess Twilight Sparkle, no one expected that this would happen. For now, we should keep going to the top to meet with our airborne transports." Alex replied. "Those helicopters? They're scary..." As they arrive to the top, Ambassador Alex opens the door, revealing a cloudy sky and the chants of protestors. It was loud, terrifyingly loud, some ponies even had to cover their ears due to the noise. They move near the helipad and await for the helicopters. Ambassador Alex prays that the transportation from the Blair House to New York City will go smoothly without any problems, but unfortunately, it would appear luck would not be on his side. =///CNN\\\= "Good morning, I am Todd Williams, CNN. I am here today regarding the situation at the capital. Thousands of rioters from all over the U.S. and the world has gathered in the streets of Washington DC. Many of them demand that the Equestrians be thrown out of U.S. soil. The Washington D.C. Police, Secret Service, and the Washington National Guard, has mobilized to disperse the crowd. Unfortunately, depsite the best efforts from the government, multiple of the rioters had managed to break through the perimeter and are now besieging the Blair House. A building in which the Equestrians are staying." Todd Williams would appear to clear his throat before speaking. "At this moment, we have Alexia on scene to give live coverage of events and interview some of the rioters, Alexia?." *The screen would change to Alexia who appeared to be getting herself ready. Just behind her, thousands of rioters had began surrounding the Blair House. Officers and national guardsmen would be seen trying to push some of them away.* "Thank you, Todd. As you can see, thousands of rioters from all over the globe had gathered here today to demand the Equestrians be kicked off U.S. soil, and they're willing to acheive that goal through violent means. Not only that, but many of them have even demanded that the president be carrying out preemptive strikes upon the aliens. As of now, we do not have information as to why they want that, but we have one willing participant for interview." *The camera man moved his camera towards one of the rioters. He wore green armor that covered his entire body and had a gold visor on top of his helmet.* "Excuse me, can you tell us the reasons as to why you and other rioters are demanding the U.S. Government do a preemptive strike against the Equestrians?" The man would look at her as if she was stupid. "Isn't it obvious? They are a threat to humanity! They must be eliminated quickly before they solidify their position on Earth and manipulate us!" "Hmm... interesting, but wouldn't ordering a preemptive strike on a species that claims they come in peace, wouldn't we ourselves be the aggressor?" She questioned. The man would would audibly snort at the question. He grabbed the microphone from Alexia before turning to the camera. "Looky here, Earth, heed my words and listen to them closely. Their destruction is the will of the Gods, we humans are his instrument, and we shall play the mighty song of destruction upon the enemies of humanity, no matter what their goals are..." Before Alexia could take back her microphone from the man, the sounds of helicopter blades would be heard and gunshots suddenly roaring across the street. Alexia, along with other people attending the "protest", start to duck for cover and several others start to run in panic. Nearby officers and national guardsmen would move forward towards the noise, guns drawn. In the chaos, the camera man kept his camera rolling to recording the incident. Though, what he didn't know is that he will soon catch the most horrific phenomenon in human history. =///A few minutes ago\\\= Above the Blair House, the pony leaders, Ambassador Alex, and a few other ponies are waiting near the helipad. A pad in which the humans said that they would deploy their 'helicopters' to pick them up. For the Equestrians, it's basically an oversized chariot with a giant windmill on top. Every time they saw this vehicle, awe and dread filled their minds. The fact that this mechanical marvel flew without using magic was a sight to behold the ponies. Also at the same time, it's basically a terrifying death trap ready to cut a pegasus in half. Thankfully, that hasn't happened. The CH-50 Chinook came into view and that caught the Equestrians off guard. They were expecting the same helicopter from last time to transport them, but this one is much larger and has two sets of rotor blades instead of one. When the helicopter landed on the helipad, the cargo doors opened up, revealing a single human soldier motioning for them to board. The ponies would look at each other before boarding the helicopter. The pony leaders would come in second, before lastly, Ambassador Alex came on board. "Is that everyone, ambassador?!" Loudly asked the soldier that motioned for them to board. "Yes, everyone's on board!" The ambassador would respond back with the same volume. "Good! Situation is getting heated and we wouldn't want anyone to be left behind!" The soldier would say before turning towards the cockpit and giving them the all-go to lift-off. The CH-50 would begin to lift-off with its mighty blades span faster and faster. As they began lifting-off, a technical situation would have occured regarding the cargo doors. "Hey! Why isn't it closing!?" Questioned the soldier. The co-pilot would look back behind her before answering the soldier. "Some damn thing is messing with the cargo door controls! We're trying to fix it!" "Well, hurry up! I highly doubt that the-" Before he could finish his sentence, gunshots and screams from the masses below would be heard. BANG BANG BANG BABG. BABG BANG BANG The gunshots that they heard were really loud and were repeated many times. The helicopter's outer armour and cockpit glass would be damaged by the bullets. "Ah shit! We're under fire! Stay away from the damn cargo door!" Yelled out the soldier. The helicopter pilot quickly performed an evasive maneuver, trying to evade the bullets pummeling the CH-50 Chinook. They immediately understood whoever did this was trying to prevent them from leaving. The soldier hurriedly ordered the ponies and the ambassador to stay away from the cargo door as the bullets began nearing the Chinook's entrance. The ponies would attempt to move away from the door, but it was going slowly due to the fear that enveloped them. Some of them were even dangerously close to the Chinook's entrance. As the pings of bullets hitting the CH-50 Chinook had not ceased, Celestia quickly casted a shield spell, the yellow shield bubble engulfing a quarter of the interior of the Chinook. "Everypony! Get inside the shield NOW!" Celestia ordered. The ponies quickly took cover under Celestia's forcefield while the lone human soldier tried to find where the gunshots were coming from. One of the unicorn royal guards bravely tried to find the shooter as well, only to find himself shot in the hoof by the shooter. He yelps out in surprise, the intense pain only registering for the guard a second later. He immediately fell down to the ground, a pool of blood then began to flow from his gun wound. "No!" Cried out one of the crystal pony guards. The crystal pony guard galloped towards his downed friend to help him. Although they have different nationalities, they are still ponies. As he neared his downed friend, the lone human soldier stopped him. "Get back, now! I have this handled!" The human soldier would point towards the forcefield. The crystal guard pony would not listen as he tried to get past the human. After the fourth attempt, he relucatantly retreated back to the safety of the forcefield. As he retreated, the human soldier would go on his knees before talking to the injured pony. The sounds of gunfire still clearly being heard as the pings of bullets hitting the Chinook still continued. "You alright?!" Asked the human soldier. The pony royal guard would look at the human soldier, tears in his eyes. "It... it bucking hurts!" He yells out. The human soldier would attempt to pull back the pony royal guard to safety. He seemed to have some difficulty with the task as he wasn't expecting him to weigh as much. He turned towards the group in the bubble before yelling for help. "Hey! Can somebody in their use their magic to float him to safety?!" Empress Cadance was the only pony that answered his call for help. She quickly casted a telekenesis spell on the injured pony royal guard and brought him inwards towards the shield. The human soldier simply gave a thumbs up towards the Crystal Empire Empress before heading back towards the Chinook's entrance to spot the shooter. The shooting at the time still had not ceased. Celestia could see some kind of projectile hitting her forcefield as some stray bullets began ricocheting towards her forcefield. Despite the fast velocity of the projectile, her forcefield spell had been refined over two thousand years, a small projectile like that wouldn't be able to penetrate her shield. As some of the bullets slammed into her forcefiled, she noted that its velocity was very fast and the heat generated from the impact makes it very capable to burn pony flesh. She believed whatever weapon is being fired would be very deadly for her ponies. After several shots later, the human soldier managed to find the origin of the shots and radioed whoever was available on the ground. The shooter hid behind the crowd and was wearing a light green shirt with jeans pants, he also wore a white hat on his head. The officers nearby heard the information on their radios and began heading towards the location of the shooter. The officers traversed through the crowd before spotting the shooter, his gun still firing towards the CH-50 Chinook up above. The officers would draw out their guns before aiming towards the shooter. "Lower your weapon now!" Yelled out one of the officers. The gunner would look at the officers, a look of hesitation in his eyes, before moving his weapon on them. The officers, with no other choice, fired upon the man, littering him with bullets. He fell towards the ground in a dramatic fashion. Unfortunately, as he fell, his finger was still on the trigger and the gun was still aimed towards the Chinook's entrance. The gun would fire for the last time as his soul begins to leave his body, a flurry of bullets heading towards the Chinook's entrance. The human soldier onboard the CH-50 Chinook would suddenly jerk his body before he clutched his neck. Princess Luna would notice his odd behaviour. "Hey! What's wrong!? Are you alright?!" Inquired Princess Luna. The other ponies and the ambassador began to notice his behaviour as well. A few seconds of no response from the human, only the screams of people down below and the Chinook's blades being heard. It felt like time slowed as the human soldier turned towards them, his hand still clutched onto his neck. As he turned, the group within the bubble notice a dark shade of red dripping down from him, dark red splotches all over his uniform. Their eye's widened in shock and horror as they truly saw what happened, the human soldier was shot multiple times, ranging from his legs, all the way to his neck. The group was speechless as they observed the bleeding human that's somehow still standing. Princess Luna looks towards the human soldier's face, it was one she herself knew too well, the look of fear and desperation. Tears filled his eyes as he tried desperately moving towards the ponies, but to no avail as he stumbled backwards, getting closer and closer towards the Chinook's entrance. He desperately reached out towards the group, to reach out for help. His voice was barely heard, but it was still audible for the group to hear. "H-help... me..." It was the only sentence his damaged body was able to produce before he lost his footing, and fell back out towards the Chinook's entrance. The group gasped in horror as he fell off the Chinook and began falling towards the ground. Time slowed for Princess Luna. Despite the human soldier not knowing the ponies all too well, he helped saved two of them. One of her sister's own guard and one of Cadance's own crystal guard. Her eyes narrowed in determination to save the falling human soldier. She began to lower herself into a position to quickly fly, her wings beginning to spread to its full extent. The group in the forcefield noticed this, but before they could ask her what she was doing, she was already off the Chinook and towards the falling human soldier. She was racing gravity and time itself. The human soldier was nearing the ground as the people down below could only watch in shock and horror. She looked at his face one more time and noticed something peculiar, it was one of acceptance, he seemed ready to accept his fate. Fortunately, she wouldn't allow him to die. As they fall, in the perspective of the others, it was milliseconds, but for Princess Luna, it was seconds. She noticed that their was no way for her to catch him in time with a telekenisis spell so she did the only choice she had to do, drop faster towards the ground and catch him. She arrived on the ground before quickly shifting some of her energy towards her hooves. As fast as she arrived on the ground, she lifted off towards the human soldier, leaving a small crater in her absence. In 6 seconds flat, she catched the human with her body before carrying him in his telekinesis. Princess Luna quickly brought the human closer to her to determine his injuries. Multiple bullet wounds from legs to neck, his breathing was irregular, the wounds clearly taking a toll on his body. As she assessed his body, his eyes slowly opened and he would look at her. He seemed thankful, but confused. Princess Luna would look back at the human and slightly smile. "Don't worry, I got you..." She closed her eyes and began channeling some energy towards her horn. She focused on the human soldier she has in her telekinesis and began doing something that no one on Earth would have thought possible. Once Princess Luna accumulated enough energy, she opened her eyes annd looked towards the human soldier. "This might feel funny." She wanred. The human soldier would look at her confused, but he didn't even have enough time to ask before she lowered her horn onto his body. He gasped in surprise as her horn shined in a brilliant white glow, his wounds disappearing as if they've never existed. The people on the ground, the pilots, and the group in the Chinook watched in awe as the spectacle of Luna's magic came into play. As the white glow died down, Princess Luna would raise her horn away from the human soldier. The soldier opened his eyes and felt around his body, there were no longer any bullet wounds on his body. "W-why?" He simply asked. Princess Luna thought for a moment, why did she save him? Was it to show their world her benevolence? Was it out of instinct? Or was it because she wouldn't let another good soul be lost in front of her? She knew why, it was the latter, she wouldn't allow another good soul to be lost when she had the power to do it, despite the soul being human. She wouldn't allow it, not like last time, not like last time... "You... protected another species from your own despite the huge hate we garner. It might be your job, but that does not matter. You saved two ponies from certain death and the moment you yourself were nearing the 'white light', I simply couldn't allow you to die..." Princess Luna brought the human soldier back on the floating Chinook that, for whatever reason, held its position. The ponies and the ambassador would look on as the Lunar Princess glided inside the Chinook with the human soldier. "Luna, are you alright?" Asked Princess Celestia. Luna would place the human soldier down onto the deck before looking at her sister. "I'm fine, dear sister, I'm fine." Before the ponies on board the Chinook let out a sigh of relief, the ground below erupted into rage and fury. The fact that they gunned down their fellow human just to protect this alien pony made the masses furious. They did not care that one of the pony leaders saved a serviceman, they were all focused on the now dead gunner on the ground. One of the rioters brutally punched the officers that shot the man, all of them quickly getting ganged up on. The perimeter around the Blair House began falling into disarray as the rioters increased their fiery anger, punching and pulling on the officers, national guardsmen, and agents that made up the perimeter. Before things started to turn into total 'FUBAR' (F***ed Up Beyond All Repair), Luna looked back onto the mob, her face contorting to that of utter disgust of the rioters. She felt that enough was enough and she went forward and took flight once more. No longer was it to save someone, no... it was to instill fear into these human's hearts... Her horn began to glow with a dark blue aura and her eyes began to glow white. Her forelegs lifted up into the sky where it would give a demonstration to these pathetic mortals what would happen if they tried to defy the goddess and cause chaos. The sky above the U.S. capital began to turn dark as the celestial bodies that should illuminate the Earth's night sky blocked the sun. The clouds that were covering the sky being absolutely blown away from Luna's magic. The once cloudy sky turned to that of a dark orange colour. The humans on the ground looked to the sky with fear on their faces, the sense of dread began to cover all of Washington D.C. and beyond. A few seconds later and the moon had covered the sun in a complete eclipse. Everything went dark, completely dark. It ranged from the building's light being completely turned off to the flashing lights of the Washington D.C.'s Police cars. The only source of light only being Luna's glowing horn as it became the brightest thing in the sky over Washington D.C. Celestia, Twilight, Cadance, the rest of the ponies, and the human's on board the Chinook were taken aback by what Luna was doing. Down on the ground, some of the officers and national guardsmen slowly raised their weapons in fear that she will do a rampage and slaughter everyone down below. Meanwhile, Celestia had all four of her legs shaking at what she is witnessing in front of her. She clearly still remembered the Second Lunar Schism that happened all those years ago. She wasn't ready to fight her sister again. The possibility that Luna will turn into Nightmare Moon above a foreign country could possibly trigger a war. Before Celestia could act, Luna spoke in a booming voice. It was not the Royal Canterlot voice she was accustomed to, no... this was way different... "LISTEN YOU UNGRATEFUL MORTALS, WE CAME TO THIS LAND IN PEACE AND IS THIS HOW YOU WELCOME US!? WITH VIOLENCE AND CHAOS?! YOU CREATURES ARE THE WORST I HAVE COME ACROSS IN THE THOUSANDS OF YEARS I HAVE LIVED! YOU THINK THAT WE CAN BE HARMED?! YOU THINK THAT YOUR LITTLE PROJECTILES WILL DO MUCH AGAINST THE POWER OF AN ALICORN?! THINK AGAIN, YOU MORTALS! YOU DARE EVEN HARMED YOUR OWN PEOPLE! DIDN'T YOU ALL WITNESS THAT?! YOU CLAIM THAT WE ARE THE MONSTERS, BUT YOU FIRED THE FIRST SHOTS! IF YOU WILL NOT DISPERSE, YOU WILL ALL RUE THE DAY I USE MY POWERS!" Her voice was loud and her gaze was peircing to every unfortunate soul she looked at. All the humans below were shocked and horrified by what they saw. This was a being of power, pure power... Every rioter, even some of the officers, agents, and national guardsmen that were apart of the perimeter started running frantically away from the alicorn. Hundreds of people were injured as they ran away. Many of the rioters slipped and ended up being stepped on and run over by other running rioters. As the chaos happens, the same camera man from the CNN stayed on to record the event and broadcast it live to audiences around the world. After the rioters were at a far away distance, Luna finally began to calm down and relax herself. She slowly focuses on the Earth's moon and began to move it to its previous position. The sky above Washington D.C. returned to normal and the power to all things needing electricity came back. Luna flew back towards the Chinook and folded her wings as she sets down onto the interior of the Chinook. She takes notes of the group's reactions, ranging from shock, horror, and astonishment. Celestia stepped forward towards Luna, an angry look on her face. Luna raised her hoof and silenced Celestia before she could even speak. "They attacked us and hurt our guards. They shot their own soldier and didn't even bat an eye. They even attacked their own army and law enforcement and injured many. The action I did was justified and absolutely necessary." She said nonchanlantly. Celestia wanted to argue with her sister, to tell her that she once again stained relationships between the ponies and the humans, but chose not to because deep down, Luna had a point. If she had not did what she did, their would have been more casualties amongst the humans. The pilots had finally fixed the technical issue regarding the cargo doors and closed it shut. They then told everyone to sit down on the Chinook's chairs as they began flying towards their destination, New York City. As Princess Celestia sat down, Ambassador Alex sat across from her. "I don't want to butt in, but she does have a point. I may not agree with the method, but what she did was what was really necessary. I don't know what'll happen after this, but was can only pray..." Ambassador Alex says. Celestia didn't say anything and just nodded towards the ambassador. She looked towards her sister and she could see a small aura on the tips of her horn. She knew Luna was using some sort of scanning magic to scan the external and internal parts of the helicopter. Despite that, she just dismisses it and thinks she's just curious about how human technology works just like how Twilight disassembled and broke down her laptop down to the atomic level using her Matter Manipulation spell in order to understand it on fundamental level. Though, what she didn't know was that Luna was up to something else, something that'll change history for both pony and humankind... =///CNN\\\= "Good afternoon! I am Todd Williams, CNN. Just recently, our ground team witnessed the most extraordinary event to ever happen in human history over the sky of Washington D.C." *The screen changes to showing the eclipse made by Luna* "According to our sources, all of this started when one of the rioters fired upon the Chinook carrying the ponies." *The screen would then change to the events on the ground* It was reported that the rioter named Carl Johnson opened fire on the helicopter and injured a single Equestrian pony and a serviceman before being neutralized by officers on the ground. Not long after, the rioters began to break through the perimeter made by the government. Because of this, one of the leaders of Equestria, namely Princess Luna, decided to take the initiative to drive away the masses by making a temporary solar eclipse over Washington's sky. Terrified by the sudden event, thousands of rioters dispersed themselves and the streets of Washington DC. Once the rioters have gone, Princess Luna returned the area back to normal.", *The screen changes to the streets of Washington D.C. looking normal as usual* "Reports also say that at least more than 200 people were injured in the whole process of this protest. Most of them were caused by slipping and being stepped on by other rioters after Princess Luna made her total solar eclipse." *The feed would change back to Todd Williams* "We still haven't got an official statement from the United States Government, but reactions from around the world are already starting to appear on the internet and on the international stage. Around the world, criticism of the U.S. Government begins to skyrocket as they are criticised for not taking proper security precautions and being unable to prevent a shooting by one of the rioters that ended up injuring two Equestrians and a serviceman." "People around the world also expressed their disappointment towards the American public for their actions against the Equestrians. Now, most of the world is regarding Americans as 'barbarians' because instead of welcoming the Equestrians with open arms, the Equestrians were instead greeted with hatred and threats by the American population." "Currently, the Equestrian leaders are being flown by helicopter to New York City. We still do not have any information regarding the Equestrian and the single serviceman who were injured by the shooting, but many assume that they are being treated on the helicopter as Princess Luna has shown some sort of ability that rendered the serviceman in good shape. As of now, we can only wonder about what will happen. Experts say that even if they are taken to a hospital, there is no telling how modern medicince will affect the Equestrians." "Now, regarding the political situation, there is no telling what will happen. The U.S. and the rest of the world can only hope that the Equestrians show good faith despite their first interactions with us humans. This is Todd Williams, CNN." =///3 Kilometers from New York City\\\= Above the skies of the United States, the Land of the Free, there are 3 metal contraptions flying towards a city. On one of the metal flying contraptions, there is the Princess of the Night. Her horn continues to light up as she uses some form of scanning magic to try to understand how the technological marvel she's in, works. To get into better detail, this sort of spell is called the 'Deep View spell'. This spell was originally used to see the insides of a creature's body for medical treatment, or basically the pony version of X-Rays, just minus the radiation. During its use, the ponies discovered that they could also use this spell to see through the ground for underground natural resource deposits. (Yes, just like the average Minecraft cheater, Equestrian uses X-Ray for mining) Princess Luna, a pony that's curious, was scanning all the parts of the contraption that humans called a 'Helicopter'. To her and her subjects, it's a very odd name for a vehicle. At first, she thought trying to figure out how these vehicles would work would be easy as pie. Apparently, she was wrong. This 'helicopter' was basically the most complex piece of technology she had ever seen in her life. Most, if not all parts of this vehicle are specially made and specifically arranged in the most sophisticated form she has ever seen. From the given information, she estimated that the humans were at least a century more advanced than Equestrians in terms of technology. Luna also tried to scan the other helicopters that were escorting them. She could find that this certain helicopter was designed for combat. She could find the weapons that the humans called an 'auto-canon' attached under its cockpit. It also had strange tubes on its sides. The reason as to why it's there will not be answered until she looked up the internet. Her research on what humans call the 'Internet' really helped her a lot. The fact that they are displaying mountains of information is amazing, but very stupid. As she looked into the internet, she searched up the purpose of the tube on the side of the helicopter escorting. What she saw was absolutely terrifying. It was called a 'missile'. A weapon that is basically a cylindrical tube with stabilizing fins at the end. Regular ponies would probably think this was basically just oversized fireworks, but Luna knew better. With her scanning spell, Luna determines that this 'missile' was capable of eliminating an entire legion of her guards, something thta only the most powerful battle mages in Equestria could do. Unfortunately, that was not the worst thing she found out about it. She discovered that said missile was capable of following their targets... This made her shiver in fear. What sort of weapon is capable of tracking down their targets? Why would they even need such a weapon for? She didn't know, but she can only hope that such a weapon won't be used to target her and her ponies. Although Luna is more than certain that her ponies will one day be able to replicate something similar to their technology, their temporary vulnerability makes her seriously worried for the safety of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. For now, she and her sister would play it safe, trying to make friendly relations with the human nations, establishing trade, and possibly an alliance between Equestria and the human nations. The political game is something that Equestria has always been good at. Back at Equus, they basically held all the political cards, be it economically or militarily. The ability to move the sun and moon, being the center of magic development, as well as being the most populous country in their world, it placed Equestria high on international pedestal. Ohh... she still remembered the face of the Zebranican Empire representatives when she showed them her most fraudulent trade proposal. They quickly signed because the Zebras were basically still traumatized by the destruction of their imperial capital over a thousand years ago and how angry the Griffon emperor was after Luna demanded that they give all of their biggest gold mines in the south of the continent. If they didn't, she would otherwise stopped all exports of food and necessary supplies that they critically needed after Celestia wreaked havoc on their agriculture with her Solar Flare strike. Since Equestria's most important advantage is magic in this world, she'll have to use it as her ultimate political card. She must take advantage of all fields as much as possible before the humans could begin to develop their own magic. =///Meanwhile\\\= In the same helicopter, the Princess of Love, the weakest Alicorn leader, had finally healed the injured pony royal guard after a decent amount of time. Now, that doesn't mean her magic sucks. Just like the others, she actually has a great amount of magic, the only difference was that she rarely studied any healing magic, only focusing on psychological and defensive magic. One of her spells is 'Love Magic'. It's basically some form mind manipulation in which she pumps certain amounts of chemicals in someone's mind and makes them full of infatuated lust. Odd spell, she knows, but it is... useful in certain situations... She rarely practiced something like healing magic because it wasn't really her specialty. She was the Alicorn of Love for Faust's sake. So, whenever she tried to heal Celestia's royal guard from his injuries, she encountered some difficulties. Luckily, her sister-in-law helped her heal the poor guard. They managed to get the projectile out of the guard's hoof with a spell. With that, they were able to stabilize him and fully heal him. Though, Cadance is absolutely horrified by the human weapon called 'firearms'. The simple fact that this weapon is capable of spewing hot lead projectiles at someone's body is barbaric to ponies. The offensive magic that's used most often by the Equestrian Armed Force and her own Crystal Empire Defense Force was basically overcharged stun magic. This sort of magic will send a beam of energy containing 10,000 volts of electricity which will quickly hit the enemies and painlessly end their lives. As she looked out the helicopter's window, she hoped that nopony would ever suffer from a firearm again... =///New York City, 1010 hours\\\= On the highway of one of the greatest cities on Earth, there were several armored vehicles driving towards the United Nations Headquerters. All the vehicles were running without problems, the road in front of them was basically empty. This is because the U.S. Government deployed the New York Army National Guard to blockade the road to prevent what happened in Washington from happening again. Inside one of the vehicles, there is the Princess of Friendship, the princess who was drooling at the mouth when looking at New York City. It was possibly the most ridiculous royal title ever heard in human history, but not for the Equestrians. Twilight Sparkle, a pony with extraordinary intelligence, full of curiosity, and always hungers for knowledge. She had been trying to learn as much as she could about human civilization lately, starting from their own diet, to how their government works. With her current knowledge, she found them to be the strangest species she ever encountered. The first is about how fragmeneted their civilizations are. They are divided into nearly two hundred individual nations scattered across the world. Nearly all of these countries are democracies, but many of them are corrupt and ineffective in governing their territory and their people. And if she thought things couldn't get any worse, she was wrong. After she bought an electronic device that the humans called the 'laptop', she gains access to the gigantic public library that humans call the 'internet'. As she powered on her device, she couldn't hold back her curiosity and with that, she learned more of the humans, It turned out that Discord was right about what he said. This world was basically the definition of chaos and disharmony. Almost all of the human countries are in a constant state of rivalry and in a constant struggle of survival. It started from the Trade War that occurred between the United States and the Republic of China, to exploitation and invasion of other countries for natural resources or just for some stupid reasons. The organization they were currently aiming for was basically more or less effective than Rarity's ropeless skipping rope. They can barely solve any problems except for a few minor political issue, and what they so called the 'Security Council' is nothing more than exclusive 'We won a war' club than an actual global political arbiter. Her highschool 'Not Save For Woona' club has a bigger effect than this organization. Alright, that's actually an exaggeration, but still, they're basically pretty much useless. As the Convoy finally stopped near the UN Headquarters, the Equestrians were escorted to the building. On the way, hundreds of journalists from all over the world scrambled to take a picture and ask them questions. "Excuse me, we're from the CNN. Is it true that you Alicorns have lived for over two millennia? If so, how in the world is that possible?" "Kami dari TVRI, apakah benar kalian Alicorn itu herbivora and tidak pernah mengkonsumsi daging?" "こんにちは、私たちは日本のニュース ネットワークから来ました。アリコーンは、日本大使があなたに贈りたがっている触手モンスターを受け取ることに興味がありますか?" "Извините, мы из Русской Новостной Сети, правда ли, что вы можете создавать пузырьковые щиты, танки нашей страны действительно плохие, вы можете импортировать свои технологии защиты?" "witam jesteśmy z Polski news news network czy wierzysz w boga? jeśli tak to czy byłbyś zainteresowany przejściem na chrześcijaństwo." Twilight didn't understand the last question from Polish person, she just thought they just wanted her to join a strange cult. Setting that aside, when they are in front of the UN Headquarters, they can find hundreds of flagpoles with flags that were truly identical to the provinces in Equestria. Twilight can recognize the flags of Chineigh, Coltlombia, Russea, Japone, Griffish (British), Germane, Prance, Brozeil, Endia, Austaillia, Iren, Egyptneighan, Vieytnam, the Fillypines, and many others. As they entered the building, they were greeted by multiple representatives from many major countries on Earth. They all seemed friendly except for the representative from the Russian Federation. Twilight could see he had bloodshot eyes and his behavior was a bit odd, after few seconds of thinking, Twilight realized that he was half drunk, oddly similar to the governor of the Russean province in Equestria. After being welcomed by representatives of several major countries on Earth, Twilight, Cadance, Celestia, Luna, the other ponies, and Ambassador Alex were then directed to follow them to the UN General Assembly Hall. While walking there, Twilight looked at the UN flag that was hanging in the corridor, but what she saw caught her by surprise. Apparently, the UN made minor modifications to the flag of the United Nations. Compared to the original flag she had previously seen on the internet, this flag had a certain continent added to it, the continent in which she lives on... As her group continued walking, she turned towards one of the humans in the room to ask a question. "Excuse me, mister human? May I ask you a question?" The human in question turned towards the alicorn, surprised by her sudden appearance. "Oh! Ah, sorry, wasn't expecting to be talking with one of the aliens... Anyways, what's your question?" "Well, I wanted to ask something regarding the UN flag. Why does it... have my continent on it? We've only just arrived." Twilight pointed towards the new UN flag. The human looked at where she pointed before looking back at her. "Well, ma'am, the UN is called the United Nations for a reason. The moment your continent and your country came to our world, they planned to add another nation to their organization and to their logo..." He would sigh before continuing on. "You see, despite their... recent stuff you see on the internet, they want everyone to be united, to be safe from harm. They have noble goals, goals in which could benefit humanity, and now, both our kinds. They don't want you ponies to be left out, to be divided from our kind to yours. This entire organization's goal is to keep the peace and unite everyone. It doesn't matter if you're a different ethnicity or different religion, it truly doesn't matter, we're all human." He would pause before chuckling to himself. "Sorry, I almost forgot, now it doesn't matter if we're different species, we're all the same nonetheless. Earthlings, living beings, sentient species, we're all those. With your nation arriving on our planet, the UN is trying to move towards a much friendlier world in which all species can be safe. So... why not our first steps together towards unity be through this." He gestures towards the new UN flag. "A simple gesture from us humans, to your species..." Twilight looked back towards the UN flag, his words made her feel appreciated in a world so hostile towards her kind. They really wanted to intergrate their countries into Earth, for them to not be left out. Despite the United Nations being called almost completely useless by many people, that doesn't mean that the people in the organization had no noble intention of caring or fixing global matters, they just don't have enough resources, money, or political support to live up to truly accomplish that goal, but they're trying. "That's... amazing to see, mister human." That was all Twilight could say at the moment. "Well, we do our very best." He responded. Twilight smiled before raising her hoof to get a hoofshake. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship." The human chuckled before he too raised his arms to shake her hoof. "Ikola Razon, diplomat of the Canadian Government." He responded kindly as he shaked her hoof. As they stopped shaking, they wished each other a good day and hoped to see each other soon in the future before going to their respective areas. As Twilight returned to her group, one thought came to her mind. 'There is still hope for them.' The Equestrians arrived in the UN General Assembly Hall and it was really big and majestic. In their perspective, hundreds of seats filled with representatives of countries from all over the world were seen. There were also several journalists who got the special opportunity to broadcast the meeting live for people from all over the world to watch. With this, this begins the most important meeting in human history. A meeting that would shape the entire history of both humanity and ponykind forever... Celestia had never felt this nervous in her life. No one blamed her though as nobody even noticed her nervousness. Thousands of years of being in politics can do that to an Alicorn. She had never attended a meeting between countries of this magnitude. The only thing she could relate to was the meeting between the nation's leaders in the 'League of Nations' organization back in Equus. The only difference is that she only had to deal with 38 countries, and not 195. Despite that, she is determinded to power through this. The UN General Assembly Hall was also massive in comparison to the 'League of Nations' own assembly hall back in Equus. Celestia could guess that this room was more than enough to accommodate more than 300 representatives while back in Equus, the League of Nations Assembly Hall had only one big oval table, large enough to accommodate everycreature in her own world. The Alicorns were led to their seats, so were the other ponies. Ambassadar Alex had to go to his own seat so he had to leave the Equestrians for a moment. The seats in which they sat upon were basically human chairs modified to accommodate equines. As she put her large cake flank onto the chair, she felt really comfortable, much more comfortable than her own chair in castle throne room. As everyone sat down, the ponies could see representatives of other countries in their own areas. In their areas were flags indicating what country they represented. Some they recognized, some they could barely tell what it was. As the room began to quiet down, United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, stood on the large podium up front and spoke. "Today, while we will talk about the arrival of an extraterrestrial nation on Earth, I will do a quick recap of how it all came to be." Antonio said. "On January 3, 2029, at 6 AM local time to be precise, sudden flashes of light engulfed, an event we now named the 'Flashes' event, all the areas that bordered the Pacific Ocean. After the 'Flashes' event, orbital satellites from both the U.S. and China had detected the arrival of a new continent. The continent in question is at least estimated to have a diameter of 30.37 million square km." (Yes, I decided to redraw how the continent of Equestria looks like.) "At first, we assumed that there was only a single country on the new continent as said from a previous report from the U.S. 'First Contact' group. Only then, with proper information from the inhabitants of the new continent, there were actually two countries on the continent. That being the United Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Both countries are inhabited by colourful equines that identify themselves as ponies." He actually wasn't quite right. In fact, the continent of Equestria was home to four countries, two of which were the Republic of Yayakistan and the Changeling Queendom. Though, for whatever reason, the two countries didn't get teleported along with the United Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire to Earth. The place that should have been their territory became completely uninhabited land that's now being colonized by the ponies. "According to both nation's leaders, they came to Earth unwillingly. An unknown anomaly they called 'Whiteouts' suddenly brought them here without them knowing. The scientists deployed on the first contact mission by the United States announced that not only did the continent of Equestria been brought to Earth, but also the sea and atmosphere of their planet." Antonio would clear his throat before continuing on. "With this, it resulted in the loss of the Pacific Island nations, the Hawaiian archipelago, 317 civilian and military ships alike, and more than 23 Trans-Pacific civilians aircraft flight. In total, we've estimated that two million souls disappeared because of the anomaly. Unfortunately, we do not have enough information to tell whether all those souls are either dead, or simply transported to the world of Equus, home planet of both the United Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Despite the losses, the ponies claim to be peaceful, is there any objection?" A silence would soon follow. "...No?... Alright, we shall start interviewing the Equestrians themselves. Can the Equestrian leaders please introduce themselves and talk on the podium?" For more than thirty minutes, the humans bombarded Equestrian with all kinds of questions. The British representatives asked how the Equestria's government works, only to end up with them cursing internally about how similar the United Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire was to the UK. The Chinese representatives asked how big the population of Equestria and the Crystal Empire were. They wanted to know how many potential customers they could sell their product to. The response they got was that the United Kingdom of Equestria has a population of more than 320 million ponies whilst the Crystal Empire had a population of less than 10 million ponies. The Chinese were understandably happy, more customers, more profit. The French representatives inquired about the history of the Equestrian's war with the other countries in Equus, only to end up breaking down mentally upon hearing that the United Kingdom of Equestria did not surrender to the Zebranica Empire despite their troops managing to penetrate the Maneginot Line. American representatives, including Ambassador Alex, asked the Equestrians if they respected the terms of freedom of speech, assembly, expression, and arms, only to end up irritated knowing that both countries didn't have their version of the 2nd amendment and and nopony ever carried a crossbow with them to school every day. The Canadians asked about the Crystal Empire and its history of the empire. Cadance was happily able to answer the question with a short description of her nation's history, ranging from King Sombra all the way to present-day Crystal Empire. The Canadians seemed very interested in the Crystal Empire. Meanwhile, the Secretary-General opted to ask much more... strange questions such as regarding ponykind sentience and testing their personhood to know if they deserves the same right as the humans because there was still a debate on that certain subject. It was safe to say that the ponies passed with flying colours. Though, among all these questions, the question from the representative of the Russian Federation stood out the most. "Does the United Kingdom of Equestria or the Crystal Empire have access to weapons of mass destruction?" The pony leaders paused for a moment, thinking about the question he asked. As they thought, Luna smiled internally, maybe there was another advantage other than magic... She walked towards the podium's microphone and spoke into it. "Actually, we do. I have something that many of my subjects call the 'Lunamoon Strike'. Luna answered. The Russian Federation respresentative raised an eyebrow at that, so did the other humans. "Pardon me? The 'Lunamoon Strike'? How exactly does this 'Lunamoon Strike' work? Does it have anything to do with the moon or... is it some fancy name?" The Russian Federation representative asked. The moment she was suddenly waiting for had arrived. It was time to show these humans that they are not to be trifled with... "It's nothing of a fancy name, I assure you. Your first suggestion was correct, it has something to do with the moon. As you can guess, I myself is capable of using my stellar magic to cut a small chunk of your own moon and drop it onto whichever area I desire." Luna said coldly. The whole room went silent as the words exited out of her mouth. Everyone in the room had watched the video clip where Luna moved the moon with her magic in front of hundreds of rioters. The imagination of Luna showering the Earth with hundreds of moon rocks filled them with dread. Celestia noticed their fear and quickly took control of the situation before anymore fear goes longer. "Keep in mind that the United Kingdom of Equestria is a pacifist and peace-loving nation. We will not resort to such methods except under very dire circumstances." Celestia quickly said. The humans said nothing for a moment, only the silence accompanying the room. Celestia feared that her sister's antics yet again instilled more fear into the humans, but thankfully, the UN Secretary-General spoke up for the majority of the humans. "Erm... we fully understand that as well, Your Highnesses. Uh, back to the topic, we will discuss how the United Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire be integrated into world politics and economics. If you want, we will be happy to recommend you to join the United Nations and the World Trade Organization." Antonio said. This was what Twilight Sparkle has been waiting for, the opening of economic and friendly relations with human countries. Though, she is more interested in the exchange of technology and knowledge as well as wanting to spread friendship to the countries of the Earth. The last time she checked on her laptop, China and the United States were having some kind of international rivalry and she wanted to fix that. She walked up onto the podium with a smile on her face before answering. "Yes, we will be more than happy to join the United Nations and the World Trade Organization." Twilight answered truthfully. Cadance then walked up to the podium. "The Crystal Empire is also interested in joining the international community." The United Nations Secretary-General was happy to hear that, so did the other humans. It would appear that they have forgotten about Luna's WMD, if only for a little while. "Well then, we are delighted to hear that! Now, before both countries are accepeted into the organizations, the United Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire have to submit an application to me and a letter formally stating that both countries accepts the obligations under the UN Charter." "Afterwards, the UN Security Council will consider the application and any recommendation for admission will receive the affirmative votes of 9 of the 15 members of the council. The recommendation is presented to the General Assembly for a vote. A two-thirds majority vote will be necessary in the Assembly for admission of a new state. If the votes are in favour towards the acceptance of the new nations, well... welcome to the UN." 'Buck... this is going to be a really long process.' Twilight muttered to herself. Twilight was absolutely right. The process of submitting the application of entry to the UN Secretary-General and the vote in the UN General Assembly Hall took up most of the day, but in the end, it would all be worth it to her and the other Alicorns. "With a majority vote of 189 - 195, the new nations have been accepted into the UN and WTO and will be recognized as official countries!" Everyone stood up to clap as the new nations were accepted into the the organizations. At that very moment, people around the world either celebrated, or coped with the news. The other ponies in the UN General Assembly Hall stamped their hooves, their own version of clapping. The alicorn leaders smiled happily, their countries were finally accepted into the international organization of this world. They knew it won't be easy trying to intergrate fully into this world, but with their countries joining the UN, they can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that some of their problems have been alleviated... > The Life of the Bacon-Haired Alicorn > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =/// Somewhere in Austaillia \\\= In the south-western part of Equestria, a place in the Poecianic region, it is one of the most dangerous areas in Equestria. This place is called the Province of Austaillia. From reports from visitors and inhabitants alike, it is the deadliest province in Equestria. There are many deadly creatures living here, ranging from the ever terrifying giant spiders, decapod cockroaches (no idea how such a thing is possible, it's terrifying), and to the infamous hoof sized scorpions. In the past, colonization of the province usually ended in failure or sometimes in the death of entire colonists in the most gruesome way possible. All of this started when the Austaillian provincial government declared war on the Emu birds. When their expedition team arrived at Emu hotspots, they immediately charged towards the birds with their swords, spears, and bows. Unfortunately, despite the Emus not being sentient, these blasted birds managed to repel each and every attack. (No, I didn't make this stuff up) Though, just recently, a miracle happened. The ponies are now able to colonize this Tartarus of a region in peace. The ponies never knew what caused this sudden change of environment in the Poecianic region, but they didn't complain, they got more space to colonize. Of course, there were some who were suspicious of the sudden change, but despite their investigations into the matter, they found nothing. As a result, they concluded that it was just magic at the works again. They weren't entirely wrong... Yes, there was magic, but it was from somepony instead of passive magic. The result of the miracle was of one of the Princesses of Equestria. Everycreature has been taught that there were two Princesses of Equestria: Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Yet, there was another, the secret Alicorn, the adopted daughter of the Solar Goddess herself. Her body is almost as tall as Cadance, an orange coat and yellow mane with a red streak can be observed. To the humans, her mane looks like perfectly cooked bacon. Her name is Sunset Shimmer, former student of Celestia, adopted daughter of the Solar princess. She was formerly a battle mage for the Equestrian Special Magic Corp and now she's the commander of the 501st Equestrian Legion. If anypony hasn't known yet (which they shouldn't), she's an Alicorn, an alicorn kept in secret. If Twilight Sparkle is the Princess of Friendship, Sunset Shimmer is the Princess of Defense. She is considered one of Equestria's secret weapons if the other Alicorn princess and the government staff are decapitated. She fought in the shadow of the sun, saved Equestria from enemies of great, and has done countless things for the sake of Equestria's safety. As of now, she's relaxing in her seat while enjoying coffee. After all of the things she has done, she truly deserved the break. She glances towards one her walls, a look of satisfaction can be observed on her face. On it, the wall is covered with pictures of her achievements and some skulls of her defeated enemies. It may seem crazy, but to her, it was a trophy. It was all of the results of her hard work in trying to prove to Celestia that she deserves to be an Alicorn, and huzzah, she got what she rightfully deserved. (Something like this) It was a really painful journey for her, despite her talents and dedication to her goal. At the same time, it was the most precious time she had ever experienced in her life. This made her think, 'how did this all happen?'. The fact that 24 years ago, she was just nothing more than an orphan trapped in an orphanage, but now she is one of the most important ponies in Equestria. It was almost amusing to her, really. A 'zero-to-hero' moment she can say. She spends almost all of her time and effort just to make sure she is worthy of her Alicornhood to the point where she has no plans on what to do once she becomes an Alicorn. Well, that's why she's here, to carry out mass extermination of the blasted Emus so they stop attacking and massacring the inhabitants of this province. She's taken a lot of them out, probably almost to extinction, but there's still pockets of Emus out there. Though, in every battle and skirmish she fought, why does victory feel like ash? She didn't know how and probably would never would, but at the very least she could recap on how everything had started... =///24 years ago, 1983 CLD, Canterlot\\\= On the bustling street of Canterlot, the city where the place is filled with self-centered, egotistical, brat nobles, there is a pegasus. Her coat is snow white and her mane is a bright pink, though a tad bit wet due to the rain occurring above the city. Her Cutie Mark resembles that of the sun with a cloud on the side. With her, she carried a saddle bag and inside were her identification papers and a great deal of bits. For ponies, I mean normal ponies and not those uptight nobles, she is known by the name 'Sunny Sky', by which she is remembered as to being one of the loyal customers of Donut Joe's. At first glance, she may seem to be a regular pegasus minding her own business, but if one were to look closely at the details, she closely resembles a certain Alicorn, specifically the Sun Alicorn. Why would she disguise herself as a pegasus you may ask? Well, she just wanted to see how the daily life of her subjects are and simply enjoy her life as an ordinary pony, far from the politics and her kingdom's bureaucracy. Just because she's an immortal alicorn, that doesn't mean she doesn't need a break and vacation. Anyways, she was walking on the streets of Canterlot heading to Donut Joe's restaurant to enjoy her favorite donuts. It was rainy, but she didn't mind. Oh, don't get her wrong, she loves her sun, but sometimes the heat was unbearable at times, so the rain being brought by weather ponies was an absolute wonderful thing. As she was halfway through the rainy sidewalk towards Donut Joe's restaurant, she suddenly felt a sudden magical burst engulf half of the entire district, almost all the ponies in the place started screaming frantically as their bodies were enveloped in a red magical aura and started to float into the air. Even Celestia was caught off guard by the overwhelming amount of magic. She saw ponies around her starting to turn into household objects such as vases, trash cans, brooms and other items you would see in a house. She saw that the situation was getting out of hoof so before it got even worse, she decided to cancel her magic disguise spell and turn back to her normal self to try and fight against the sudden magical burst. She casted a spell that cancelled every form of magic in a small radius, and with that, the magical burst stopped, and everything returned to normal. All the ponies that turned into household items were returned back to their original form. They were of course confused about what had happened to them. Some of them noticed Princess Celestia and they immediately bowed to her, causing a domino effect of ponies bowing towards their princess. Princess Celestia noticed this, and she raised her hoof up as a way to stop them from bowing before speaking to her subjects. "My beloved subjects, there is no need to bow, I was just here to investigate the sudden magical burst that happened in this area." she addressed. The ponies, though a bit hesitantly, raised their heads to stop bowing. One of the ponies near her walked up to her with a look of concern. "M-Must we evacuate the city, Your Highness?" he asked. Princess Celestia turned towards him before smiling. "There is no need, my little pony, whatever sort of magic that happened here, it wasn't anything dangerous." she assured. He sighed in relief before thanking Celestia for her actions, so did the other ponies. While the ponies were getting back to their personal lives, Celestia looked around and casted yet another spell. This spell was something she herself created in her earlier years, a spell to track any magical source. After a while, she finally detected the origin of the magical burst and to her surprise, it apparently came from an orphanage not far from her position. Out of curiosity, she decided to visit the orphanage. It was a bit of a travel, but nothing much that would bother her. After a while, she arrived at the orphanage. It was decent looking; it was clear that it was taken care of as it should. She decided to return back to her Sunny Sky disguise as to not draw any attention. As she entered, she was greeted by one of the orphanage staff. "Ah! Hello miss, my name is Velvet Harmony, what can I do for you?" The staff at the front desk was a unicorn mare with a red coat and snow-white mane. Her Cutie mark was a white cross and from her accent, it appeared that she was from the Sweetzerland province. "Good evening, Velvet Harmony. A few minutes ago, there was a sudden strong magical burst somewhere near here. I'm curious, did it come from here?" Celestia asked. Cherry Harmony looked a bit hesitant before answering. "Erm... yes, one of our foals suddenly lost control with her magic. We are truly sorry for the disturbance it has caused." Velvet Harmony apologized. "It's fine, Velvet Harmony. If possible, may I see who this foal?" Velvet Harmony looked at her before shaking her head. "O-Oh, I'm terribly sorry, but unfortunately, she's off limits for anypony at the moment. She has strong magical energy, but she is unable to control it. Until she manages to control her magic, she cannot be adopted by anypony and only qualified mages or other specialized ponies are allowed to see her." Velvet Harmony says. Celestia stood there, a tad bit irritated, but kind of understood why. Whoever this foal was, she was a bit dangerous if she's unable to control her magical powers. Though, that wasn't an excuse to prevent anypony from seeing this foal. She spent millions of Equestrian taxpayer bits to pay for an orphanage so the orphans could find new families, to find a better life out there. They should be taken cared of with love and compassion by caring ponies. Whatever it is, she wasn't going to let Velvet Harmony stand in her way, despite the fact that she's just doing her job. She must investigate this incident and if possible, talk to the foal in question. In the back of her mind, she also noted to make sure whoever issued this order to get a stern talking by herself. In order to get passage, Celestia decided to drop her disguise spell. The pegasus that should be named Sunny Sky was suddenly enveloped in a blinding white light. Celestia felt her body grow in size, her hair turned ethereal, and her horn are visible once again. "Does this make me qualified now?" Celestia smirked. Velvet Harmony and all the ponies in the room were stunned by what they saw. Their jaws dropped (not literally), and their expressions were of awe. Though, not Velvet Harmony's, she was nervous wreck. She thought that she would be thrown into a dungeon for her actions. She didn't know that the former pegasus was actually Princess Celestia. How would anypony know? "I-I-I'm SORRY, Your Highness! I-I didn't know it was you! P-Please forgive me!" Velvet Harmony was near tears as she apologized profusely. Princess Celestia looked at Velvet Harmony as she kept apologizing at an impossible rate. She didn't know that she would react this badly. She felt bad for the mare, she was only doing her job. Princess Celestia cleared her throat, "It's alright, Velvet Harmony," -she smiled softly at the mare- "you were only doing your job. There is no need to apologize." Velvet Harmony, after some seconds of calming herself, looked up towards Princess Celestia with a hopeful expression. "R-Really?" a smile was beginning to creep up on her face as she awaited for Celestia's answer. Princess Celestia chuckled lightly, "Of course! I wouldn't be the well-known benevolent princess if I were harsh, would I?" Velvet Harmony chuckled as well, "I guess so, Your Highness." -she took a deep breath- "I'm guessing you'd still want to meet the foal?" "You are correct in your assumption, Velvet Harmony." "Well then, follow me." Velvet Harmony took a clipboard before looking at it momentarily. She sets it back on her desk before motioning towards the princess to follow, prompting Princess Celestia to follow her. "Is there anything else I need to know about this foal, Velvet Harmony?" Princess Celestia asked. Velvet Harmony shook her head before turning towards the princess, "Well, besides the obvious, the foal is similar to every other foal in the orphanage." -she turned slightly in front of her to make sure she didn't bump into anything- "If it weren't for the magic, everypony would assume she's like every other foal in the orphanage." Princess Celestia nodded, "How interesting..." As both ponies made their way to the foal, everypony else who wasn't at the lobby were surprised at the sight of Princess Celestia: the orphans, the staff, and the visiting ponies alike. Even though she didn't show it, Celestia was actually laughing internally. Seeing her subjects reactions when she suddenly visits their areas really made her happy. Despite being almost two millennia old, a sight like this never gets boring. Doctor Heinz Guderianeigh was really angry. His test subject released a burst of magical energy without warning and made a mess of his portable lab and damaging his equipment. Luckily for the doctor, the magic was abruptly cut off. It raised some suspicions from the doctor, but not enough to investigate as to why such a thing happened. He assumed that his test subject's young age was the cause. His test subject was a young filly. Though, she was no ordinary filly, she was a rare type of unicorn called a 'Flare'. It was an extremely rare type of Unicorn that had a enormous magical energy core that almost matched that of an Alicorn. Only a few Unicorn Flares had ever existed in Equestria's recorded history. Individuals like Star Swirl and Sombra are among the rare Unicorn Flares that have ever existed before the Reneighssance Era. Of course, with this sort of rarity, it is thought to be a myth, but the doctor knew better. Flares like Star Swirl and Sombra were only born once every millennium. For almost his entire life, he studied Flares and other rare types of ponies. He always wanted to meet these types of rare ponies and study them, and here he his with a Flare. He never imagined himself that he would be in the same room as the Flare. He knew that this was the chance of a lifetime to research what is possibly one of the most powerful magical creatures in Equus besides the Alicorn. He had been experimenting on her for almost a month now in secret, always getting past the orphanage staff by keeping the identity of being the foal's personal doctor. Though, despite the long time, this young filly keeps refusing to cooperate and continued to rebel against him. He didn't blame her though, he did some... questionable tests that would, if discovered, keep him locked up for a long time. She had also lost both her parents from an airship crash accident. She survived because her parents gave her to one of the pegasi passengers before the airship crashed to the ground because its Hydrogen gas got ignited. He also intends to 're-educate' her as a Germane nationalist. It's his duty to bring back the pride and dignity of Germane. The Germane he was born into was weak and pitiful, not the one he learned about in his history class. After he finishes 're-educating' her, he would train her so she could control her magic. If she succeeded in controlling her magic, she would help him re-establish the Neighzi party and bring Germane to its former greatness. He could envision it now, him along with the Flare taking on the entirety of Equestria and winning. Unfortunately for Heinz, his dream of reviving the Germane Third Reich would never come true... .... *Knock* *Knock* "Scheiße..." Heinz quietly cursed to himself as the knock was heard. "What is it? I already told everpony that I don't want to be disturbed!" he says aloud with a heavy Germane accent. "I'm sorry, Doctor Heinz, but there is somepony who wants to meet you." Doctor Heinz got off his seat and started walking to the door. He rolled his eyes, who would possibly want to meet him at this time? He arrived at the door before turning towards the cage, the Flare still in its cage with its four legs chained and its horn now locked with an anti-magic ring. He turned away from the foal before opening the door. He carefully poked his head out of the door since he didn't want other ponies to see what was really going on in the room. He of course lied to them and if they were to find out his true intentions, it was about to get messy. "Who is i-" Heinz's jaw dropped (not literally), it was the last pony he wished to ever visit him. Right in front of him in all her majestic glory was the one and only Princess Celestia. The sense of dread began to grow within him, cold sweat going down his face as he tried to put out a forced smile to greet the princess. "G-Good a-afternoon, Your Highness. Is... erm... there anything I-I can do for y-you?" Celestia put on a friendly smile towards Heinz before speaking, "Good afternoon to you to, doctor. I visited this orphanage because a few minutes ago, there was a sudden magical burst. I'm here to check its origin and I heard from the staff that this magic burst came from one of the foals that this orphanage houses." Panic began to overtake Heinz. He inwardly cursed the unicorn flare that released the magical burst which ended with Celestia visiting him. He also cursed the receptionist pony for disobeying an order. "My apologies, Y-Your Highness, but sadly she's uh... off limits for now. She's really... dangerous because of how much magic energy she has." he says in an attempt to dissuade the princess from investigating further. Celestia started to smell something fishy about him because of his expression by the time she saw her. At first, she thought that it was nervousness which was understandable, most ponies she met were like this. Though, during her years alive, she was sort of able to tell between 'sus' and 'not sus'. She grew even more suspicious because of his replies which were questionble at best. Despite that, she decided to keep a neutral face and try to carry on the dialogue. (Please make it stop, i can't take it anymore!!!) "I'm aware of that, doctor, that's why I'm here to check on her. I myself am a teacher, maybe I can try and help her control her magic so that the sudden magical burst doesn't happen again?" she suggested. With her suggestion, Heinz was getting desperate, he needed her to leave. "I'm t-terribly sorry, Your Highness, but she's, you know, veeeery tired because of her magic outburst and she's currently resting. Uh, h-how about doing it tomorrow?" he sheepishly smiled. There was no way he was getting out of this now. Celestia's neutral expression vanished and was replaced with a frown. By this time, she already knew that he was hiding something, denying her to enter the room and telling her to just come back tomorrow was the most conspicuous. She had lived too long not to fall for his pathetic attempt of hiding something. She lit her horns and forcibly opened the door. Heinz desperately tried to hold the door, but was unable to because she was an Alicorn. "Wait! No! Hold on!" Heinz cried out, but it fell on deaf ears. By the time the door opened, both Velvet Harmony and Celestia gasped at the sight that layed beyond the door. Celestia had expected something bad, but this was beyond bad, it was downright horrendous. The room was absolutely dirty to the point where the chambers of Reddit moderators can be consider clean. On the table were dozens of tools of which the designs seemed to disregard every form of ethical means necessary. Though, what was most shocking of all was in the middle of the room. In the center of the room, there is a cage and within its confines was an orange unicorn filly, chains bounded to her hooves and her mouth was covered with duct tape. From the looks of it, she seemed to be only 3-4 years old. Celestia can identify dozens of wound marks on her body and could also see that the filly was suffering from malnutrition. As she looked closer, she reeled back in horror, there were signs of possible sexual abuse. The last time Celestia had seen this level of cruelty was almost a millennium ago during the Europonean war era, but even that wasn't specifically targeted at innocent foals. Celestia stared at the filly before turning towards the doctor. He seemed to be backing away in fear, good... that's what she needed. Celestia slowly walked towards Heinz with a sort of snarl on her face, her mind beginning to cloud with anger. "You... You did this, didn't you?" she growled towards him. "I-It's not what you think! She's dangerous! She HAD to be locked into that cage!" he tried to reason, but to no avail. Celestia simply looked at the doctor with disgust. Was he seriously trying to justify his actions? At the door, Velvet Harmony could only watch in apprehension as Celestia continued walking towards Heinz, each step was heavy and was closing the distance. "I don't want to hear your petty excuses, doctor..." Doctor Heinz was backed into a corner, he couldn't move anywhere as he was surrounded. He gulped one last time before trying his luck once more. "W-wait! Just hear me ou-" he was cut off as Celestia, a princess known for her benevolent and calm demeanor, yelled at him. "ENOUGH! I HAD HEARD ENOUGH! YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES DEARLY, DOCTOR!" Before Heinz could react, she quickly used her telekinesis to lift Heinz into the air. He yelped in surprise, trying to squirm in Celestia's magic grasp, but without any success. Celestia slammed him against the wall of the room several times, fracturing his skull and knocking him unconscious. Celestia stared at the unconscious pony doctor with satisfaction. She then turned towards the filly in the cage before quickly opening the cage where the foal was in. Celestia hastily removed all the chains and duct tape from her mouth, though carefully since the foal was in awful shape. She also removed the anti-magic rings attached to her horn. She did a quick scan of the filly to get better details of the wound she was suffering in. Once the scan was complete, Celestia cast the best healing magic spell she knew, quickly removing all of the wounds the filly suffered from. The unicorn filly stared on as her wounds quickly vanished from her body. The unicorn filly turned her attention towards Celestia with teary eyes. Celestia slowly went down towards the unicorn filly to calm her down and assure her. "There, there... you're safe from that awful pony..." she assured softly. Celestia gave the filly a warm hug with her wings, signaling the traumatized filly that her nightmare was over, that she was safe from all harm. After that, she then turned to face Velvet Harmony who escorted her to this room. From what Celestia could observe, she was still in a state of shock. The fact that all of these things happened under their noses without them knowing and the fact that Celestia, once believed to be benevolent and calm, attacked the false doctor with a rage not seen before in the princess. "Did you know anything about this?" Celestia asked coldly. She still stood there, the combination of shock and fear freezing her train of thought. Celestia then decided to use a more gentle method. She put on a neutral face and asked her again but slowly. "Velvet Harmony, did you know anything about this?" "N-No, Your Highness, I swear in the name of Faust's that I did not know anything about this!" Celestia looked at Velvet Harmony and it seemed that she was telling the truth. Celestia's guard lowered and she sighed. "Alright then. Miss Velvet Harmony, could you go inform this to the the nearest Royal Guard post? I want this madpony arrested immediately." "O-of course, Your Highness." Velvet Harmony replied. Velvet Harmony quickly left the room. Celestia was able to hear that she informed the nearby orphanage staff about what she just saw and asked for their assistance to find the nearest Royal Guard. Celestia then turned her gaze back to the filly unicorn. The filly hadn't uttered a single word or sound ever since she was released. It was most likely because she was mentally traumatized. Celestia turned to face a pile of papers on the office desk in the room. She then took out the several paper files with her telekinesis to find out what the madpony was doing. After searching through several paper files, she finally found something interesting. Subject Test : Sunset Shimmer Gender : Female Age : 3 Years and 7 months old Race: Unicorn Type: Flare (Extraordinary Rare) Parental Status: Deceased Cause of Parental Death: Airship crash accident Note: The test subject always to put up a heavy resistance during the experiment. Subject must be confined 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A sudden magical burst can be dangerous without heavy use of anesthetics and anti-magic ring. Celestia was shocked by what she saw. She turned towards the filly by her side who was now taking a rest. She quickly did a more detailed and in-depth scan of the filly to determine whether or not she was a Flare type. After several minutes of scanning, it was confirmed that she was indeed a Flare type Unicorn. 'That explains a lot...' Celestia thought. It explained why the previous magical burst and also explained why this madpony did this horrible experiments to this innocent filly. Because of this, she couldn't be adopted by normal families. Flare-type Unicorns require special treatments so they can control their magic. There was also a high chance that somepony or some group would target her and try to foalnap her due to the rarity of Flare-type Unicorns. Celestia just so happened to interfere with one of these someponies. Celestia was in deep though, she does not know on what to do with her. She can not be adopted by ordinary families and at the same time, she certainly wouldn't let this filly remain stuck in the orphanage for the rest of her life. After some deep thinking, she came up with a solution, a solution entirely new to her. She couldn't believe that she was about to do this, but this innocent filly needed her, needed somepony to take care of her. She couldn't allow her to be left alone after all of the pain she has gone through. Celestia turned towards the sleeping filly beside her and mutters, "Don't worry, little one, I will take you away from this place and I will teach you on how to control your powers. I promise to take care of you as if you were mine own daughter..." Celestia said softly. The filly of course didn't say anything. She was probably still very weak from malnutrition and possibly dehydration, tired from all of the abuse against her. Celestia decided to get out of the room with the sleeping filly being carried out with her telekenesis. She placed the sleeping filly on her back softly as she continued down the halls. She also had to fill out her adoption papers so she could officially adopt her. As she went down the halls, a squad of Royal guards came from the hallway towards her, the guards being accompanied by Velvet Harmony. Celestia then approached the group and then explained to the guards what happened and ordered them to heal the unconscious doctor before bringing him to a dungeon. The doctor had to answer for his crimes, and when he is brought to Equestria's National Court, she will happily bestow upon him the most awful sentence imaginable. The guards immediately went to work while Velvet Harmony stayed behind with the princess. Celestia looked at Velvet Harmony with a smile before talking to her. "Long day, huh?" Velvet Harmony was surprised with Celestia talking to her before she responded, "Y-Yeah, long day..." Velvet Harmony looked at the filly on Celestia's back, disappointment beginning to grow within her. She was supposed to care for the colts and fillies of the orphanage, to provide them with all of the necessities to have fun and live their lives. She was supposed to protect them from the dangers, and here she was, failing her job as a caretaker. Being tricked so badly that one filly under her care was abused for such a long time. She began to turn her head away from the princess before tearing up. Celestia saw this and went towards the pony caretaker with concern for her subject. "Are you alright, Velvet Harmony?" she asked. Velvet Harmony turned slowly towards the princess, tears still falling from her eyes. "I... I failed my job, Your Highness. I was supposed to care for them, to protect them," -she looked at the sleeping filly on Celestia's back- "yet she was harmed for such a long time under our noses..." Celestia looked at Velvet Harmony as she continued on. "H-How can I possibly call myself a caretaker for foals if I let this happen? How can I possibly live with myself knowing now of the horrors she has gone through?" she says through tears. Celestia looked at Velvet Harmony with a look of empathy. She can relate to her pain in many ways. She looked around herself before lifting the sleeping filly off her back onto a convenient table nearby. She turned her attention to the sobbing mare before walking towards her and putting a wing around her to comfort the caretaker. "You didn't fail your job, Velvet Harmony, you never did. I can tell that you're a pony who cares for the foals and will do anything to protect them. It wasn't your fault that the filly was hurt. The doctor was a fraud, a pony of deception to get what he wants. Please, for your sake and mine, don't beat yourself up over this." she assured, wing still draped over the caretaker. Velvet Harmony looked up towards the princess, tears still falling, but it was considerably less than before. She drew a shaky breath before speaking, "B-But Your Highness, he's been at this for some time now. Each week, he's been visiting the orphanage for this filly. I should've suspected something the moment he said that the filly must not be visited under any circumstances, but he was firm and... threatened us with some sort of punishment." -she turned her attention towards the filly on the table- "She's so young, so innocent, I should've disregarded his threats and barged into the room she was kept in, but I didn't, I was too afraid to see whatever punishment he had in mind." Celestia sighed before talking, "Yes, you could have barged in, but you weren't aware of the punishments he had. Seeing his works and his... past, the punishments could only be what I assume would've been awful. You were concerned for the well-being of everypony around you. Though, all of that is in the past now, you can't do much to the past. You can only do stuff in the present and hope for the best in the future." "I guess you're right..." -she sighed- "I just wish I had done something." "And you did. Despite me investigating the magical burst on my own accord, you brought me towards the madpony. You also brought in the guards so that said madpony would be trialed for. Don't think that you did nothing, Velvet Harmony, because you did do something." Celestia assured. Celestia retreated her wing that was over Velvet Harmony before turning towards the sleeping filly. A smile creeped up Celestia's face as she looked on. "Look at her, she seems so at peace. This was probably the first time she'd ever been like this in her life. We both can rest easy knowing that the pony that caused her harm is behind bars and we prevented this from going any further." she said with a soft smile. Velvet Harmony looked along with Celestia and she was right, the filly did indeed look at peace. Her breathing had rythmn instead of it being erratic like the first time she saw. "Yeah... I guess we did do that, didn't we?" Celestia smiled at her, "Of course we did. She's safe now and it's because of both our actions and the doctor's nervousness." Celestia picked up the sleeping filly with her telekenesis before placing her on her back. She turned towards Velvet Harmony with a calm expression. "Velvet Harmony, I plan to adopt this filly and take her under my wing. Do you know where I could sign the adoption papers?" This surprised Velvet Harmony as she heard the words leave Celestia's mouth. "You're planning to adopt her, Your Highness?" she asked. Celestia nodded before speaking, "Mhm. I plan to adopt this filly so she can have a nice life and I would be able to train her. It's a good idea and besides, she needs this." "Alright, Your Highness, just follow me and I'll take you to the papers." Velvet Harmony responded. As they both walked down the hallway towards the papers, Velvet Harmony smiled. Despite the recent events that happened way too fast, she knew that the filly who had been under such abuse for a long time would finally be in good hooves. She always enjoyed foals finding new and loving families in the orphanage, and this was no different. She chuckled to herself as she thought back at the past events, it had been a long day... =///15 years later, February 10th 1998 CLD, Canterlot\\\= It had been more than fifteen years after Celestia decided to adopt Sunset Shimmer, the unicorn flare. She managed to train her to control her magical powers. She taught her various kinds of defensive and offensive magic such as the 'Buck You Blast' and the 'Ain't No Way You Getting Past This Shield'. This made Sunset Shimmer, the new daughter of Princess Celestia, one of the strongest battle mages in Equestria. Though, there was something that kept bugging her. Namely, she desired to continue to consume even more knowledge and power. It starts was like a black hole that kept consuming matter and keeps growing stronger as the time goes by. Not only that, she also continues to grow distant to the ponies around her, especially Cadence. Celestia tries to instruct her to make some friends, but she kept refusing. She kept saying that she didn't need friends and she could do everything alone. Things got worse when she heard that her mother took a new unicorn as a personal student from the school of gifted unicorns a few years ago. She began to get more and more jealous because their time together got reduced. She was starting act like Luna. Speaking of Luna, she's started acting weird lately as well. She began to lengthen the night time on purpose. At first, Celestia thought that this was because she wanted to give astronomers extra time to study the night sky. Though, after further investigation by Celestia, she found out that Luna was under the influence of a terrorist organization called 'Children of the Night', where they persuaded Luna to start a coup d'état and establish a new nation they called the 'New Lunar Empire'. How on Equis they managed to influence her, Celestia didn't know at the time. Everytime they met, Celestia began to detect the spectrum of dark magic radiating from Luna's body. Even though she had been struck by the Elements of Harmony, the existence of the Nightmare Moon still remained in her body. So, just as a precaution, she had to start drawing up plans to fight the Nightmare Moon again. Her best chance was to use the Elements of Harmony again, but after using the Elements of Harmony a thousand years ago, five of the six elements turned into stone. She needed somepony who could reactivate the Elements of Harmony, somepony who mastered magic of friendship. Cadance was too weak and she had barely had any friends. Sunset was worse, she was too hungry for power and has no friends at all. The best candidate she has is her newest student, Twilight Sparkle. She has the same great magical potential as Sunset, but unlike her, she is not hungry for power and at the very least, she has some friends like Lyra, Moon Dancer, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine. All she had to do was help her refine her magic and help her find suitable companions to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. This leaves one thing unanswered, how about Sunset? She definitely wouldn't be happy with Twilight becoming a Harmony Element bearer. Tartarus, she still remembers when she was still seven years old and cutely said that she wanted to be an Alicorn princess like her so she can live forever and be the eternal protector of Equestria just like her. As much as Celestia also wanted that to happen so she could live forever with her, she was unfit to receieve the title yet. She had to do something, something that would qualify her for Alicornhood. Celestia placed her hoof under her chin and started spending several minutes on what she had to do to make Sunset worthy of being an Alicorn. Friendship was not the only path to assertion after all. Celestia had to think of something, something Sunset would like, something that would match her talents. She then remember Sunset's side job. Just like Cadance where she took a side job as a baby sitter, Sunset Shimmer took a side job as a battle mage. 'That's it! She will like being in the military. It had become her dream to become a great warrior after I gave her a book about Jenghis Khaneigh. Maybe she will find her true destiny there.' Celestia said in her mind. With that, Celestia starts planning. She will conscript her into the Equestrian military and then she will send her away from Canterlot so she won't be involved with the inevitable Lunar schism. Despite Sunset's magical powers, Celestia knew that her daughter wouldn't be able to take on Luna. Besides, she would love the military. She would send her on missions and gave her special tasks where she would slowly prove herself that she was worthy of being an Alicorn. All she had to do was come up with a good reason and convince Sunset to agree to join the military. =///Sunset's bedroom, Canterlot\\\= It was 9 PM and Sunset Shimmer layed upon her bed whilst reading a book about the ancient tactics of the Equestrian military. She was preparing herself for a lesson with her mother tomorrow where she said that she wanted to show her an ancient magical mirror artifact created by Star Swirl a millennia ago. She really couldn't wait to see how the mirror looked like, how it worked, and whether she would gain access to new magical powers if she managed to re-activate the magical mirror. Her train of thought suddenly stopped when somepony knocked on her bedroom door. *Knock* *Knock* "Uhm, who's there?" Sunset asked. "It's me, can we talk for a minute?" The voice replied. Sunset was confused. Why would her mother want to talk to her at this time of night. Usually at this time, she was sleeping in her bed. She never expected to speak to anypony other than Aunt Luna this night. "Oh! Of course, mom, come on in." Sunset said. The door to her room then opened and revealed the Alicorn that took her in those years ago. Celestia then walked slowly towards her and then sat beside Sunset on her bed in a catloaf position. "What is it, mom?" "My dear, don't be offended by this, but I want to inform you that I have to cancel your lesson tomorrow." "What?! B-B-But why?! Did I do something wrong?" Celestia chuckled at her reaction, "Of course not, my dear. It's just that for some time, I'll be busy and I don't think I'll have enough time to teach you." Sunset wanted to directly ask her why she suddenly didn't have time to teach her. Then, it struck her like a freight train, it was probably because of that purple unicorn filly her mother took in, wasn't it? Sunset then start to feel her anger beginning to rise for that blasted filly. Each and most of every time, when there would have been a chance to spend time with her mother, that purple unicorn filly somehow always prevented that. How dare that filly take her mother from her (most of the time). Sunset wanted to start crying, but her mother placed a hoof on her shoulder before speaking a soft tone, "Don't worry, my dear, just because I can no longer teach you personally, doesn't mean your magical lesson is over." Celestia assured. That caught Sunset off-guard. "R-Really?" she said with a hopeful tone. "Mhm" Celestia smiled. "So... what should I do now?" Sunset asked, unsure of what to do. Celestia looked up, as if in thought, before looking back, "I will send you to the Royal Military Cadets. You have already shown your potential as one of the best battle mages in Equestria. I think you will be very successful there, and don't worry, every week I will always send you a letter for your studies and lessons that you will learn while you are there training." "Every week?" "Mhm, I will send you a book and other important lessons, and or missions, that you must fulfill so that you can continue your studies. Who knows, perhaps there you will finally achieve to prove your worth and fulfill your destiny." Sunset's eyes widened and her face was filled with excitement. She knows what Celestia meant by her destiny. She still remebered back when she was still a filly, her mother said that she was destined for great things. "I promise not to disappoint you, I will prove my worth and I will become as great as you!" Sunset said excitedly. Celestia grinned at her daughter's reaction. "That's my filly! I know that you will not disappoint me. Though, for now you have to sleep. Tomorrow, you will pack your things up and prepare yourself for your journey." Sunset was about to respond back that she was not tired, but an unexpected yawn came up. "Oh, I guess I do have to sleep." -she smiled at her mother- "Good night, mom. I love you." she says as she puts the book aside and lays on her bed. Celestia leaned down and kissed Sunset's forehead "I love you too, Sunset, don't ever forget that..." Celestia then stood up and started to leave the room and closed the door behind her. She turned towards the bedside lamp that was still on and turned it off with her magic. After some minutes had passed, she began to fall into a deep sleep. Sunset Shimmer was sleeping soundly in her bed, Luna's magical sky twinkling above. Her journey to fulfill her destiny was soon about to begin... > Graduation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =///Fort Benneighing, February 13th 1998 CLD, Province of Neigh York, 1900 Hours\\\= The time was 7 PM and it was the evening. As the sun was slowly, but surely setting, a train can be seen heading towards its destination. Just north east of the Equestrian continent and directly adjacent to the Haylantic Ocean, Sunset Shimmer got off the train car. She was not the only one who getting off the train, there were at least over two hundred ponies of various races from various Equestrian provinces. The reason why there are tons of ponies was because they're all here to enlist into the Royal Equestrian Armed Forces, or the REAF for short. No, it's not the same as the 'Equestrian Royal Guard' like many other ponies would believe. The ERG is one of the most special branches under the REAF, only a select few being picked for the position. The ERG is assigned to guard the Alicorn princesses with their lives. They are also under direct command from the Alicorn monarchs themselves unlike the REAF. The REAF is separated into two branches: the Equestrian Ground Forces and the Equestrian Royal Navy. Since Equestria relied heavily on their ground forces and navy, they didn't really have a dedicated Air Force. The closest thing Equestria can call an Air Force is the Airship Air Corps and the elite Wonderbolts. Anyways, a few minutes after the ponies got off their transport, the train started to leave the station and left the recruits to themselves. The atmosphere in front of Fort Benneighing was full of excitement and nervousness. Ponies from all around Equestria were talking amongst themselves about their soon-to-be military service and what to expect. Even Sunset Shimmer, a pony who's social skills aren't the best, could be seen talking amongst other ponies as well. It wasn't long before multiple ponies in iron armor walked out of the fort and towards the recruits. Compared to the Royal Guards who had their gold colored armor and stylized for ceremonial purpose, the one the pony officer was wearing had their armor in a silver color and the design is made to offer the best protection as possible. Compared to gold, iron armor is proven to be tougher and offers better protection against projectiles such as arrows and various other weapons. One of the pony instructors looked at the fresh recruits. So young, so full of excitement, so much ponies to order around. Despite not showing it, he was grinning in his mind. He always loved ordering around new recruits, seeing their reactions to his not-so-friendly ways of training them. The other pony instructors would also think of the same thing as well, just slightly varying. They all stopped a few meters in front of the recruits, taking a moment to gather their minds. One of the pony instructors stepped up before he took a deep breath and yelled towards the clueless recruits, "Ponies! Shoulder to shoulder on the painted lines in front of you!" Sunset and the other ponies were startled by his yelling. After a few seconds, they began to follow his instructions and started to line up. After they finished, the pony military instructors looked around at the recruits. Satisfied with what they saw, the previous pony instructor spoke up in a loud voice, "Alright everypony! My name is Drill Sergeant Silver Shield! With me is Drill Sergeant Thunder Dare and Drill Sergeant Shadow Jewel, and we humbly welcome you to Fort Benneighing! For the next six months, we will be in charge of training you all! If you want to join the Royal Equestrian Armed Forces, you will follow our order and instructions to the letter!" Sunset and the other ponies remained silent and continued to listen to the military instructor's words. "For now, you will march towards the registration room and fill out your paperwork. Afterwards, you will take your things to your designated locker rooms. You will start your training tomorrow at 6 AM sharp and remember, if you have second thoughts on joining the military this is your last chance to turn around." Sergeant Silver Shield continued Sunset Shimmer and the other ponies were still standing there. She and all the others were determined to join the military. "So nopony has second thoughts?" .... "Alright then, that's good to see! March towards the registration room! Double file line, I don't want to see any rushing!" All of the pony recruits then immediately moved towards the registration room in a double file line. They took their saddle bags full of their belongings with them and with it, they march towards their new future. =///A few minutes later\\\= Sunset Shimmer was busy filling out her registration papers. It was quite a lot, even for her. She must write her name, age, address, and most importantly, her parent. She was sure the pony working in the registration department would spend most of their sweet time trying to confirm that she was the adopted daughter of Princess Celestia. Believe it or not, Celestia never officially announced to Equestria that she adopted her fifteen years ago. It was odd as she could have sworn their were someponies nearby when she was getting adopted, especially that caretaker, but I guess they were told not to talk about it. Right now, she is basically an unknown outsider of Canterlot. Her mother said that this was so she wouldn't be targeted by foreign assassins or Neo-Neighzi sympathizers. She shuddered, she could still remember the days she was kept in that cage. She was lucky that she was found by Celestia and that caretaker... As she was finishing her paper, she heard somepony next to her whisper towards her. "Psst! Hello! Can you help me fill out these papers?" -the pony chuckled nervously- "I may or may not understand some of the things on here..." she said with a heavy northern Equestrian accent. Sunset turned towards the pony. It turns out that the one who called her was a crystal pony mare. She has a white coat with a red mane. She also had an Equestrian red cross as a her cutie mark. (Equestrian Red Cross organization symbol) It was rare for Sunset to see a crystal pony so far from their homeland. They usually lived in the north of the continent in the Crystal Empire. In fact, the only time Sunset ever saw a crystal pony was when she was visiting the Crystal Empire embassy in Canterlot. The two nations, both the United Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire adopted the same language named 'Ponish', but Crystal Empire's version of Ponish has a few differences compared to their Equestrian counterparts. Both languages are similar, but not entirely identical. The reason for that is because Empress Cadance did a little bit of tinkering with the Ponish language to make it more unique compared to the others. This for some reason created several problems in communication between the two nations. Of course, tensions between the two weren't downright bad, it was actually pretty friendly, but the language differences did cause some problems. Anyways, Sunset Shimmer understood why her crystal pony counterpart was having trouble filling out her application form. As much as she didn't want to interact with many ponies during her training, that doesn't mean she was a complete bastard. Just like the any other ponies during their young years, she was taught by her mother to always help other ponies who were having difficulty. "Uh... sure thing, what is it you need help on?" Sunset asked. The crystal pony mare looked at her application form momentarily before turning towards Sunset Shimmer. "This part right here," -she turned to point at a specific part of the form- "this is what I need help on." Sunset Shimmer went closer to see what she was pointing at. 'Ah' she thought, 'No wonder she's having trouble...' The crystal pony mare was pointing at one of the more heavily worded parts of the application form. Sunset Shimmer then started helping the mare in filling out the paper which of course only took a few minutes. After they were done, the crystal pony mare spoke up, "Thanks a bunch! The name is Crystal Tender, what's your name?" Sunset Shimmer was a bit hesitant to say at first, but after a few seconds she finally decided to tell her name. "My name is Sunset Shimmer." she responded plainly. "Oh! That's a nice name. Say, where are you from? You seem like a pony who lives in a big city." she asked. Sunset Shimmer was surprised with the mare's behavior. She had never met anypony like the crystal pony mare in front of her. As much as she wanted to stop having the conversation right now, she didn't want to hurt this random pony's feelings. Sunset Shimmer knew how emotional ponies can get... "I'm from Canterlot, capital of the UKE." -Sunset Shimmer turned to look at a clock nearby- "As much as I want to continue talking, I don't think the recruiters would like us to continue chatting." Crystal Tender turned to the clock nearby and jumped a bit, which confused Sunset Shimmer slightly. "O-Oh, I guess you're right, we better get going." Both ponies quickly took their registration papers and placed it on a pile of similar forms. Crystal Tender turned towards Sunset Shimmer with a question on her mind. "Before we go our separate ways, is it possible that we could talk another time?" she asked. Sunset Shimmer was yet again surprised by this. A pony interested to keep talking to her? How odd. Nevertheless, Sunset Shimmer answered back. "If we have time, I guess we can do that." Sunset replied. Crystal Tender seemed happy that she found somepony to talk to during their time of training. She thanked Sunset Shimmer before taking her things and headed towards her locker room. Sunset Shimmer followed suit, but at a different direction towards her designated locker room. As she walked towards her locker room, she came across a long hall which had a lot of portraits of famous pony generals in the past. Sunset Shimmer looked up at the portraits within the hall as she walked. There she could see paintings of important military figures such as Neighpoleon Boneparte, Gayus Juleus Caeisar, and Genghis Khaneigh. Sunset continued to set her sights on the paintings, especially Neighpoleon Boneparte, which she admired when she read his victories during his time alive as the general of the Prench Army. He was one of the most astute generals ever in Equestrian history. He won hundreds of battles and succeeded in conquering most of Europonian region. Even when the Alicorn sisters started to intervene in the conflict, they couldn't defeat him easily. Sunset Shimmer still remembered the page in her history book that explained how he managed to outmaneuver Celestia's forces during the Battle of Flankfurt. His downfall was caused by his arrogance and overconfidence in invading the Russean province. Princess Luna carried out a a brilliant plan, a plan to trap Prench general and his army. She allowed fake intelligence to be captured by the Prench, hoping for Neighpoleon to fall for it, and he did. He led his army to Moscolt, hoping to catch the Princesses by surprise during the night. Alas, it was all a trap, a trap he realized too late. Princess Luna then proceeded to crumble the city around his army, leaving only an injured Neighpoleon and a small band of Prench soldiers in the aftermath. Afterwards, he got paranoid, unwilling to take great risks for victory. At the end, the once mighty general lost his life at the final battle of Faris on March 31, 0814 CLD. Sunset Shimmer kept staring at the painting while walking. During that, she didn't seem to pay attention to her surroundings and proceeded to bump into somepony. *Thump* Sunset Shimmer stumbled quite a bit, but didn't fall back. Her gaze then quickly changed to whoever she bumped into. At first glance, she thought the pony was just a normal pegasus mare, but after paying attention closely, she noticed that this pony apparently had bat eyes, fluffy ears, and fangs. She quickly realized that she had bumped into a rare pony subspecies called a Lunar Pegasi. From what she heard from her times in biology class, they are apparently a mixture of a bat, a pegasus, and a pony, a perfect species for the night. The lunar pegasus has a gray coat and blue mane. Her cutie mark is a crescent moon with an three arrowhead in the middle. When Sunset Shimmer looked at her face, the lunar pegasus seemed a tad bit angry. "Hey! Watch where you're going next time." she said. "Terribly sorry, I got distracted by the painting" she said while motioning her head towards the painting she was looking at. "Hmm, if it won't happen again, then that's fine." The lunar pegasus then turned her gaze towards the painting that Sunset was motioning at. The lunar pegasus widened her eyes for a bit. It would appear Sunset was a fan of Neighpoleon , and the lunar pegasus quickly figured that out. "So... you're a Neighpoleon fan, aren't you?" the lunar pegasus asked. Sunset Shimmer nodded at that before responding, "Well, compared to other generals like Gourge Whinnyton's, he is the best general in the Equestrian History in my opinion." The lunar pegasus chuckled when she heard Gourge Whinnyton's name. "That's because Whinnyton's is such complete trash. He basically lost half of all the battles against the Griffish Division and eventually died to the alicorns." "Well, you have to give credit where credit is due. Gourge Whinnyton fought against his enemies with farmers, untrained ponies, and hillpillies." Sunset Shimmer said. The lunar pegasus looked up, as in in thought, before turning her attention towards Sunset Shimmer. "Huh... I guess you're right, maybe I shouldn't judge based on wins." the lunar pegasus admitted. All of a sudden, she held out a hood towards Sunset Shimmer. An action that can only be seen as a hoof shake. "Setting that aside, my name is Dusky Sight, what's yours?" Sunset Shimmer was again a bit hesitant, but she decided the lunar pegasus wasn't much of a threat like that crystal pony so she gave her name. "My name is Sunset Shimmer." =///A few moments of walking and talking later...\\\= The two ponies continued to talk to each other, especially about Equestrian's history of war. Unlike any other pony Sunset has ever met, Dusky Sight is an interesting pony. Well, she could also say that crystal pony mare she met earlier was interesting as well, wanting to talk to her when they meet again. Then again, she didn't really have a conversation with the crystal pony, so it's undecided. After a few minutes of talking and walking, the two ponies arrived at their locker room. They both went inside and placed their personal belongings in their assigned areas. Sunset thought she would never see this mare again, but apparently she and Dusky were assigned to the same room. Despite not showing it, deep down, she was relieved to have been assigned with her because in all her life, she never met a pony that was nice to talk to at all. Well, except for her mother and Princess Luna, but that doesn't count. When Sunset Shimmer and Dusky Sight entered the room they were assigned to, they saw four ponies in the room. Two of which were stallions and the other two were mares. The room is designed on a squad level, six beds for six ponies. Sunset recognized one of the mares in the room, she was the same crystal pony mare she helped. The crystal pony mare also noticed Sunset Shimmer as her eyes widened with a sort of happiness in her stare. "Crystal Tender, is that you?" Sunset Shimmer said in surprise. "Yeah! It's me!" -Crystal Tender smiled widely- "I can't believe we were assigned to the same room!" Sunset Shimmer couldn't believe it as well. She thought that when they separated, both of them would be, of course, separated! Alas, it wasn't the case. Setting that aside, Sunset Shimmer didn't mind it that much, despite her personality. "I can't believe it as well." -Sunset smiled a tad bit- "I thought you were assigned somewhere else." "I thought so as well, but I guess that's not the case." -she'd turn towards the rest of the ponies in the room- "Hey guys! Meet Sunset Shimmer, the pony that helped me!" As Crystal Tender went towards the rest of the ponies for them to greet Sunset Shimmer, Dusky Sight walked up to Sunset Shimmer to make a comment. "She's an energetic one, hm?" Sunset Shimmer sighed before responding, "You're not wrong there..." Crystal Tender came back with the rest of the ponies to have a meet and greet. One of the stallions in the room introduced himself first, he was a unicorn named Emerald Ace and he has a green coat and yellowish mane. His cutie mark is an image of an emerald diamond that emits a green beam of energy and he says that he's from Idahoof. The other stallion, a decently muscular one, has a gray coat and a silver mane. His name was Thunder Spark and his cutie mark was an image of lightning with white sparks of dust all around it. He was a pegasus from Mareland. Next, the mares introduced themselves. The first being an earth pony named Flower Jade. She has a light green coat and a dark green golden-yellowish striped mane. Her cutie mark is a beautiful jade rose with a golden spark above it. She said that she was from Califoalnia. Next was Crystal Tender. Though the crystal pony mare had already introduced her name to Sunset Shimmer before, both Sunset and Dusky didn't even have the basic of information on her so she introduced herself properly. It would appear that her family were actual citizens of the Crystal Empire who decided to go migrate to Equestria and settled in Sweetzerland. After the four of them introduced themselves to Sunset Shimmer and Dusky Sight, Dusky introduced herself to them. She explained herself quite a bit and also revealed that she was from Manechigan. After she finished, Sunset Shimmer introduced herself to her new roommates. She explained herself for a bit and revealed that she was from Canterlot, explaining to the other ponies that Canterlot itself was special territory since the Alicorn princesses ruled Canterlot directly. Sunset Shimmer of course didn't tell them that she was Princess Celestia's adopted daughter because they didn't need to know that and she was sure they wouldn't believe her anyways. Though maybe, if they spent more time with each other, maybe she would, but that's still undecided. All the ponies in the room started chatting with each other about various topics. Sunset Shimmer was asked age old questions like, 'How does it feel to live in Canterlot?' and 'Have you ever met Princess in person?'. Sunset Shimmer didn't mind the questions as she quickly responded to each one of them. After a few hours later, walking around the building they were in and meeting other ponies, they all retreated to their respective beds. For the average pony, the mattresses in the military were pretty decent, but this is completely different from the mattresses that Sunset enjoys in the Canterlot castle. Though, she won't complain, she went through much harder experiences than an uncomfortable bed. Sunset Shimmer looked around the room she and her roommates were in. The experience of being at the fort was similar to being at the embassy at the Crystal Empire, an experience full of excitement and anything along the lines. She didn't know what awaits her during her time of training, but she knew it would be full of hard work, both mentally and physically. As she thought about what's to come, she began to feel tired. Her roommates were already fast asleep so she was the only one awake. She took one last look around the room, took a big breath, and closed her eyes. Soon enough, after a few minutes, she fell asleep. =///The next day, 0600 hours\\\= Everything was quiet in the room Sunset and her roommates were in. The sun was rising and the moon began to set over the horizon. Equus was busy as usual, ponies and other creatures were beginning to awaken from their slumbers, some grumbling of the thought of another day while others were the opposite. As Sunset and her roommates kept sleeping, a door opened up which revealed a grinning Drill Sergeant Silver Shield. He loved waking up the new recruits at such an early hour and to see how they react. Most ponies woke up in the most craziest ways possible when woken up by him, so he expected the same from the group he was about to yell at. He took a deep breath and yelled his favorite phrase with all his heart. "WAKE UP YOU LAZY FILLIES!" Sunset Shimmer and her new roommates suddenly woke up, startled with the sudden interruption of their beauty sleep. Flower Jade fell from her bed, Emerald Ace screamed like a filly, Thunder Spark jumped from his bed and stayed stationary in the air for a mere second before falling flat on his face, and both Sunset Shimmer and Crystal Tender rushed out of their blankets in a mess. The only pony who didn't mess up was Dusky Sight as she professionally got up from her bed, made it, and stood at attention. The rest of the ponies were all shocked and didn't know why they were awakened, but they immediately remembered that today was training day. "IT'S TIME FOR YOUR FIRST TRAINING! NOW GET YOUR LAZY FLANKS OUT OF HERE AND ONTO THE TRAINING GROUNDS OR HELP ME CELESTIA I WILL PERSONALLY KICK YOUR FLANKS TO KINGDOM COME!" Not wanting their flanks kicked, the ponies in the room quickly headed towards the training grounds. Dusky Sight helped Sunset Shimmer and Crystal Tender to stand up and they all immediately came out of the room towards their destination. As the group traversed the building, they realized they weren't the first group to be awaken. The other trainers awakened all the new pony recruits in the same way, each room with various types of reactions. They were all being guided to the training grounds where there were all kinds of dangerous obstacle courses that will make Detroit look like a morning walk. As all the ponies arrived at the area, they all stood side-by-side on some white lines. The amount of recruits were a lot and Sunset could observe that there were more than 100 recruits that came. As they all settled down, all the recruits turned their attention to the front where all the drill sergeants were. "Alright, listen up, your first day will be difficult! You will all have to get through this obstacle course which I will warn you, will absolutely make anypony tired if not done well! You all will have only fifteen minutes to reach the finish line and by then, if you don't make it, anypony that failed will have some extra work not even the base janitors will do! If I see any cheating, meaning the use of magic or wings, anypony caught will personally have a nice talking with myself and the other drill instructors! Do you all understand?!" Silver Shield informed loudly. "Yes, drill sergeant!" Silver Shield looked disappointed. "AM I TRAINING FOALS OR AM I TRAINING FULL GROWN PONIES?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" "YES, DRILL SERGEANT!" "THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! MOVE IT OR LOSE IT! With determined minds, all the new recruits immediately dashed towards the obstacle course. Sunset Shimmer felt a bit nervous because during her training with her mother, she only focused on magic, but not any physical training. Despite that, she still rushed towards the obstacle course with the rest of the other recruits. She wasn't going to fail now... =///Three weeks later...\\\= It had been more than three weeks since she enlisted in the military. It was really tiring, unforgettable, and unforgiving journey for her, but in the end, it was all worth it. She was physically and mentally stronger than before, and every week her mother sends her a letters containing new spells and magic she herself never learned before. She also asked Sunset to try making some friends and of course, she really wanted to reject the idea. Though, knowing that her own daughter wouldn't want to do that, Celestia explained that if she really wanted to become a true Alicorn princess, she had to have friends. Celestia and her sister built the UKE not out of thin air, but with friends and many other ponies. She didn't want to believe it, but in the end, her logic managed to change her mind. Besides, it shouldn't be life-threatening to her. So after that note from her mother, she started trying to make friends. Sunset started from her first roommates, especially with Dusky Sight and Crystal Tender. Dusky Sight was one of the ponies that managed to gain her attention without troubling her, and Crystal Tender was already friendly enough. With that information, Sunset decided to give it a try. She started first with trying to make some small talk when she had the chance. Taking some of her time off with friendly interactions instead of learning magic. It was difficult at first, but as time went on, it became easier and easier for Sunset Shimmer to talk with the other ponies. Eventually, they shared stories about their life experiences, ranging from the silly, to the more serious ones. The three of them became close friends, as if they were long lost sisters. As they all spent time with each other when they had the chance (military training was time consuming), Sunset Shimmer realized that making friends wasn't necessarily a bad thing. =///Three months later, November 8, 1989 CLD, 1030 hours\\\= After three months of grueling training at Fort Benneighing, the pony recruits had finally graduated from basic training and were now ready to begin serving their country. All the pony recruits lined up straight and proud at a grassy field, just outside of Fort Benneighing. While their respective families watch on from a distance, taking pictures and crying tears of happiness, the pony recruits were equally excited to finally reunite with their families after so many months of being away. Even government officials such as the governor of Neigh York was there to witness their graduation from basic training. All in all, the atmosphere in the area was absolutely positive. Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer couldn't be more proud in her whole life. Not only did she successfully graduate from military training, she was also promoted to the rank of sergeant and led the ER-34 Vanguard team in which her roommates were apart of. Apparently, she was a special case. Being promoted to such a decently high rank while in basic training was unheard of. Granted, it happens from time to time, but it was an extremely rare thing for somepony to be promoted during training. Sunset Shimmer guessed that she was promoted because of her special abilities in magic and her mother's assistance in developing spells which amazed her military instructors. It could also be because she demolished every expectation from her drill instructors, even Silver Shield was amazed. Her friends meanwhile got their respective ranks. Dusky Sight earned the rank of Corporal, Emerald Ace got the rank of Private, Thunder Spark achieved the rank of PFC, and both Crystal Tender and Flower Jade got the rank of Private. Crystal Tender, due to her medical knowledge, was assigned as the team's medic while Flower Jade served as the communications and demolitions specialist. After several minutes of the recruits settling down, Drill Sergeant Silver Shield and the other drill instructors started giving out a speech. The drill instructors spoke about honor, about courage, and about the guts to defend Equestria and her allies. The speech was dramatic, yet short enough to get the point across. There were even some tears in both the recruits eyes as the speech continued. After the speech, they were all told to take the REAF Oath, something that is really important and sacred in the Royal Equestrian Armed Forces. With their heads up high, their hearts beating strong and proud, with a loud voice, the recruits began to say the oath, one word at a time. I solemnly swear... To devote my life and ability... In the defense of the United Kingdom of Equestria and her allies... To defend the constitution of Harmony from those who wish to harm it... And to further the universal rights of all living sentient races... From the depths of the Ponecific Ocean... To the edge of the Mount Everhoof... For as long as I shall live! After they all completed the REAF Oath, the governor of Neigh York then got on stage. He looked at the sea of recruits with a proud smile at what he saw. Ponies of all kinds, from the earth ponies and to even the rare lunar pegasi were present. This reminded him of the time when he was a soldier back then before he took up politics. It was a time of excitement and constant amounts of waking up early to perform his duty, but despite that, he enjoyed his time of service. Though, now was not the time to remembering, now was the time to address the pony recruits in front of him. He cleared his throat, walked up towards the magically enhanced megaphone, and spoke into it, "Good morning mares and gentlecolts..." "It is a privilege and a pleasure to be here representing the Neigh York government about your success in passing basic training..." "Graduates – you are here today amongst proud parents and loved ones…" "Proud friends…" "Proud instructors and teachers…" "Proud national dignitaries…" "And proud Equestrian military leaders…" "And I know, in particular, a very proud Drill Sergeant Silver Shield for whom this graduation parade and commissioning ceremony will be his last as the Chief of REAF Neigh York Branch." "Graduates – all two-hundred-and-twenty-three of you have every right to be proud in yourselves..." "For today marks the end of a sustained period of intense learning in the classroom and on the training field." "You graduate today as soldiers equipped with greater knowledge and new skills which will serve you well in the REAF and beyond..." "You have sharpened your minds and strengthened your bodies, both of which are needed for the responsibilities of taking part in the military." "Mares and gentlecolts, this cohort of graduating ponies speaks volumes about not only the Royal Military Academy of Fort Benneighing, but about Equestria's approach to the world." "This group of ponies who at first didn't even know a single thing about the military hail from all over the United Kingdoms of Equestria: from Germane – our age-old province of the Europonean region…" 'From Marerocco, Chineigh and Japones – some of our dear Saddle Arabian neighbours…" "From Indoneighsia – one of our province in South-East Asina…" "And from Iraquus – a province where brutal war nonetheless created new bonds of friendship." "The international make-up of our graduates is testimony to the global standing of the Royal Military Academy of Fort Benneighing." "It’s a nine-hundred-and-eleven year old institution revered by our allies, partners, and friends. A training academy to which they send their own to receive the finest military education. Though, besides that, it also says something about our national ethos:" -he took a deep breath, looking at the recruits, before continuing- "That the United Kingdom of Equestria is a peaceful country, that the United Kingdom of Equestria is a place of acceptance, no matter the species, and despite being a continental nation, we seek to be peacefully engaged with the world around us." "This ethos courses through the veins of the Equestrian Government..." "It is why, under the leadership of Princess Celestia and Luna, we are revitalizing our historically deep engagement in the region, especially in the Griffonian and in Zebranica continent..." "It is why we want Equestria to take its place in the world with confidence, bringing new energy to our relationships with friends, both old and new." "The Royal Military Academy of Fort Benneighing epitomizes the UKE's hospitality, the UKE's curiosity with the world around us, and the UKE's commitment to shaping a better world for future generations." "Graduates, as you leave here today as soldiers of a strong and proud nation, I encourage you to keep three things in mind. These three things will be absolutely necessary for whatever future is to come, whether it'd be peaceful or not..." "First, the need for determination and composure. Whatever the field, whatever the discipline, leaders require fortitude and poise. The end of your time as cadets ushers in a period of new challenges as you take your place as soldiers leading others or being the ones taking orders. The journey ahead is not a straight path to success. There will be side-road setbacks and difficult detours you will need to navigate." "As ponies look to you as soldiers, proceed with determination in the face of adversity, and maintain composure as you encounter the pressures of circumstance." "Secondly, attend to the views of others and draw on their expertise. Lead from a position which always affords time and respect to those around you – especially with an open mind and an attentive ear to different perspectives. Military personnel nurtured in the institutions of Harmonic Monarchy have an advantage over their counterparts who are forged in the organs of disharmonious democratic regimes. As soldiers, remember that the best decisions rarely come from acting on your own ideas in isolation. Rather, they come from consulting and drawing on the knowledge of those around you." "Cherish the strength which the Harmonious principles provide in military thinking and military action at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels." "Thirdly, be driven by both a contemporary and historical sense of service. You are graduating at a time when we face the most difficult set of strategic circumstances we have known since the end of the Second Europonian War. The Zebranica Empire despicable invasion of the Giraffean Union and the ongoing conflict in the western Griffonian continent is a warning to us all..." "That is why we are seeing nations in our own region – including the United Kingdom of Equestria– taking necessary steps to uphold the rules-based international order, to contribute to an effective balance of military power, and to ensure our region remains stable, peaceful, and prosperous." "As we confront these circumstances, much is being asked, and will continue to be asked of military personnel and you as soldiers." "Particularly as we contend with an array of security challenges: be it bushfires, floods, and pandemics…" "Ponytarian assistance and disaster relief operations…" "Or the increasing prevalence of rainbow-zone activities." "Today, as you graduate as soldiers, let our times inspire your service, and know that your service will shape our times to something better than it was before. " "Never view your service in isolation, instead, view it with others..." "You are the custodians of the service of generations past, just as one day, future generations will become the custodians of yours." "Graduates, one and all, on behalf of the Neigh York government, congratulations and may Celestia guide you in your times of troubles." All the ponies then started shouting in unison, many started celebrating their graduation from basic training. Many jumped in joy while others simply celebrated with friends or family. Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer and her new found friends embraced in a platonic way and congratulated each other. After their celebration was over, they quickly went to meet their parents and relatives who were waiting there as spectators. They started shaking hooves and hugged their families, some ponies let out tears of joy at finally being reunited with their families after three months of training. Sunset Shimmer on the other hoof wanders aimlessly throughout the crowd of ponies who were greeting each other. She was looking for her mother in the crowd, but she could not find her. A two thousand year old alicorn should really stand out in the crowd of ponies out of her height alone. Sunset Shimmer even sent a letter to her mother a week ahead before her graduation ceremony. A sense of disappointment and sadness began to cloud Sunset's minds on the possibility that her mother would not come to her graduation ceremony. Maybe it's because she is busy with politics and national bureaucracy? Or could it possibly be because of that blasted purple unicorn filly? With a disappointed sigh, she gave up on her search and turned around from the crowd. Maybe she'll spend some time with her friends, that might do. Just as she kept walking, she as interrupted by a pegasus mare. "Greetings, are you perhaps Sunset Shimmer?" the pegasus mare asked. With a raised brow, Sunset Shimmer responded, "Uh... yeah, that's me? Who are you exactly?" "Take a guess." she'd say with a grin. The pony in question had a snow-white coat and a light-pink mane. She also had a sun with clouds as a cutie mark. Sunset Shimmer also noticed that the mare was also looking at her with a smile, a smile that was so genuine that she thought the mare in front of her was her mother. 'Wait a second...' she thought. She looked closely at the pegasus mare's features once more. The cutie mark, the snow-white coat, the light-pink mane, the genuine smile that reminded her of her mother... 'It couldn't be...' "M-Mom? Is that you?" she asked in shock. The mare responded with a smile. "Took you long enough, my filly." It was apparently her mother. She used a disguise spell to prevent any sort of unwanted attention. Sunset Shimmer still remembered the time when her mother used the same magic spell to disguise herself as a normal pegasus named 'Sunny sky' so they both could go together to enjoy donuts at the Donut Joes shop. It wasn't long before Sunset Shimmer quickly dashed towards her with tears of happiness and relief flowing from her eyes. The two ponies met and eventually embraced each other like a mother would do to her daughter. Celesti- I mean Sunny Sky used her wings to bring Sunset into a tighter and warmer hug. They both cherished the moment like eating homemade dinner after a long day of work. After a few seconds of hugging, Sunset broke the silence between the two. "You... You actually came! I thought you would never come... I really miss you..." Sunset said with a few sobs. Celestia, or Sunny Sky in this case, responded back, "Of course I came! I wouldn't miss my own daughter's graduation from basic training. I'm really proud of you and I know that you will succeed." -she chuckled lightly as she was reminded of something- "You also made some friends. I thought I would never see the day!" Sunset Shimmer laughed at her mother's antics. She herself was surprised as well, making friends at a fort was something she would have least expected, but that was alright. "Yeah, I'm surprised myself that I managed to do something I once thought impossible!" -Sunset Shimmer smiled s they both broke free from their embrace- "I apologize for not listening to you and not looking for friends earlier on, it's actually pretty good..." Celestia, or Sunny Sky, simply smiled back, "It's fine, my daughter, at the end of the day, you made some friends along the way. All you need to do is to continue what you're doing now and solidify your path to your destiny." "I'll make sure of it, thank you for everything." "Anything for you, my daughter, anything for you..." > Two Steps from Hell > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =///A few weeks after the graduation ceremony, 0700 hours\\\= It was 7 AM in the bustling city of Manehattan. The sky was clear and Equestria is busy as usual. Ponies and other creatures were going about their day's and enjoying their lives that harmony had brought upon them. Inside one of the apartment blocks in the western district of the city, there is a bacon-haired mare sitting in her chair while enjoying her morning coffee. After few days of her graduation, Sunset Shimmer and all of the new graduates were assigned into the 212th Legion that was stationed in Neigh York. The Equestrian military basically provided almost all the needs that their troops needed: starting from housing, healthcare, bits, and daily necessities. They also allowed their troops to settle in their areas, only being called upon into service when needed. As the sun raised above the city skylines, Sunset took a sip of her coffee and looked up at the Manehattan skyline. She hadn't been this relaxed in months, constant military training can do so much to this young mare. Everything was quiet and peaceful, just the way she likes it. As she was about to take yet another sip of her coffee, her roommate came in. "I'm back! I brought us some breakfast from the nearby restaurant." Dusky Sight said happily. Sunset turned towards her friend and looked at the bag she brought. "What did you bring this time?" -Sunset narrowed her eyes at her friend- "It better be not one of those foods that you gave me a few weeks ago..." Dusky Sight chuckled nervously as she took a step back. They both still remembered the incident which resulted in Sunset Shimmer being sent to the hospital due to the fact that the food that Dusky Sight brought was expired. "How was I supposed to know that it was expired? It's not my fault the ponies there forgot to inform me about the expiration." Dusky Sight says to defend herself. "Valid point, but oh, I don't know, maybe it's because of the fact that within the container, the smell and look of the food inside was obviously well past its due date. I mean, for Celestia's sake, it was all mucky in texture and horrendous in smell!" Sunset Shimmer replied. "Erm..." Dusky Sight trailed off as her defense immediately came tumbling down. Maybe she should have looked at the obvious signs. Sunset Shimmer sighed before speaking, "It's all in the past now, Dusky Sight. I've already forgiven you a long time ago." -Sunset Shimmer sets her coffee aside before patting the table next to her- "Place it here and we'll eat. Well, we'll eat right after we check if it's safe to eat." Dusky Sight nodded before she placed the bags on the table and started placing out the food she bought from the local restaurant nearby. As Dusky Sight placed down the food, Sunset saw two servings of seasoned fries from the Los Pollos Harmones and alongside it, two servings of veggie sandwiches from Sandwich Hub. Dusky Sight also brought a set of Colta-Cola bottles as drinks. Sunset who by then was very hungry, quickly grabbed one the sandwiches with her magic and started chowing down on it like someone who hasn't eaten for weeks. Dusky Sight couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Sunset quickly gunning down her sandwich and drinking her Colta-Cola like no tomorrow. Dusky Sight didn't blame her though. During their time training at the military academy, she and other recruits were fed food that couldn't even be called food at all. (By the way, this 'food' is called Nutraloaf.) Dusky Sight sat down and started eating her breakfast alongside Sunset Shimmer. Dusky Sight didn't feel like eating a whole sandwich so she chose to try out the seasoned fries. As she bit into the fries, she quite liked it. Salty but not too salty, just how she likes it. "Hey Dusky, can you turn on the radio?" asked Sunset Shimmer as she bit into her sandwich once more. Dusky Sight turned towards the radio beside her and turned it on. It was static at first, then the radio found a signal and tuned into it. "Good morning, Equestria! My name is Amethyst Rose and welcome to the ENN. For today, we will report on the recent events that has occurred." "What's the news about? Well, it's a bunch of Kiwis taking over New Zaeland! You heard me right, ponies, kiwis are taking over New Zaeland!" As the voice finished her sentence, Sunset spat out her drink she, of course, was drinking. "Kiwis taking over New Zaeland!? That's preposterous!" Sunset said aloud. Dusky Sight could only snicker at Sunset's reaction. These days, news outlets basically just report on stupid news stories or ridiculous hoaxes from Canterlot. One such hoaxes is how Princess Celestia is speculated to have committed questionable acts with her sister, Princess Luna. She knew it was false, but it further reinforced her idea that news outlets prefer to report on ridiculous hoaxes and stupid news stories instead of the truth. "Also, just a few hours ago, Seeddam Hayssein, the governor of the Iraqquus province, declared its independence from the United kingdom of Equestria and announced the creation of a new nation called the 'Republic of Iraqquus' and appointed himself president." "He said he did this on the basis of 'injustice' and 'inequality' which the southern provinces have proclaimed to have suffered for decades. Also, from reports in our ENN branch in the provinces of Maregypt, Claybanon, and South Africolt, the newly formed Iraqquus Liberation Army had begun an invasion with its neighbor, the province of Keuwait. Already, casualties on both sides have risen above 100, and it seems it won't stop anytime soon." "As of now, the president of the Republic of Iraqquus has not revealed as to why his forces have begun invasion upon another province, but from various ponies, it is speculated that they could have easier access to the sea. Moments after the news of the invasion, we received a statement from Princess Luna herself in which she would mobilize the Equestrian military to repel the Iraqquus invasion of Keuwait, or at the very least, halt their advance." Dusky Sight stared at the radio as the voice continued on. She looked towards Sunset who was too staring at the radio with a stare. Neither of the ponies expected this type of news, especially at a time like this. The United Kingdom of Equestria had not been hit by a full blown province rebellion such as this in centuries. "Due to the unexpected situation that has befell upon the province of Keuwait, many economic experts predict that there will be an increase in electricity and energy prices since imports of energy crystals from Iraqquus and Keuwait will be stopped indefinitely." "That's all we can say about the situation at hoof. We can only hope that the Alicorn Princesses and the Equestrian military will quickly quell this rebellion and bring harmony back to the United Kingdom of Equestria once more. This Amethyst Rose, ENN, signing off..." Dusky turned off the radio when the broadcast changed into a commercial, making the room as silent as ever. She couldn't believe what she heard, she refused to believe, but it had to be true. Even news stations wouldn't lie about a provincial rebellion. The room they were in suddenly felt heavy as the two ponies could only stare at each other, unable to find the right words to say. The silence continued for several seconds until one of their friends came barging in. "Hey girls! Have you heard the news? There has been an uprising in the south! General Commander Obay Wind's Kenobe ordered us to assemble at the Neighchorage military air base in twelve hours." Flower Jade said excitedly. Sunset and Dusky let the information flow between their heads for a second before reacting. "Wait, what? Why us? Shouldn't there be other legions that are better at dealing with this rebellion than us?" Dusky Sight asked. "What she said. Most of the ponies in the legion haven't seen combat, even us. What makes us eligible to fight against this provincial rebellion?" Sunset Shimer was curious. She wasn't exactly concerned, she's been training for some combat, she just never expected that they would be picked to fight a rebellion and this early on after graduation. "Well... I don't know exactly, I was just relaying orders from our superior." Flower Jade replied. "Sweet Faust, we've just graduated! How on Equus can high command think that we're capable of fighting?" Dusky Sight said with a worried look on her face. "Hey, come on, look on the bright side, we finally get the opportunity to be deployed to the real battlefield and not those training fields. No offense to whoever designed it, but it gets boring after a while." Flower Jade said nonchalantly. "Oh come on, surely that has to be..." While the two ponies argued amongst each other, Sunset remained in her seat. Hundreds of neurons fired in her brain as she tried to come up with a reason of how this could possibly happen, how on Equus such an event could happen despite the relative peace. The first thing she thought of was that rebellion itself should be impossible. How come? Well, it's because organizations like the Royal Bureau of Investigation, or the RBI for short, should have detect and prevented this uprising long before Seeddam Hayssein and his cronies even began planning for the rebellion. She looked backed into her memories. She still remembered the event that happened a few years ago where one of the RBI agents came to Canterlot Castle. The agent informed her mother and her aunt about a possible uprising in Cheineigh led by a revolutionary leader named Lmao Zedong. Her mother and aunt acted quickly by sending out several special battalions to eliminate the rebel leader before it grew too large. Also, she realized that Iraqquus actually didn't really have much justification for their rebellion. Due to their magic crystal mining industry, the Iraqquus province became one of the richest provinces in the region. Their economic wealth almost rivaled that of a province in the Europonean region. The excuse that Seeddam Hayssein listed were basically absolute horseshit. The second problem is that from all the legions that existed throughout Equestria, why was her legion being chosen? There were other legions that are better at this sort of problem than the 212th Legion. Various theories started to form in her mind, one of which was about her mother deliberately letting this rebellion to happen and specifically sending out the 212th Legion to test her if she was worthy for Alicornhood. Then again, that wasn't her mother. She wouldn't allow thousands of ponies in pain when she could stop it. She's an advocate for peace, harmony, and friendship. Saying that she allowed the rebellion to happen would completely be unlikely of her mother. It would also mean that her mother is sending she and her friends to a possible early grave. 'What if I die? What if I don't survive the battle?' Sunset asked in her mind. "Erm... Sunset, are you okay?" Dusky asked worriedly, but it fell on deaf ears. Sunset started to panic. All kinds of possible events ran through her mind. All of which resulted with her death or the death of her friends. 'What if I get crippled and can no longer cast magic? No, what if my friends die because I wasn't able to help them?!' "Equis to Sunset, are you there?" Dusky asked again, but Sunset paid no mind to it. 'Sweet Faust, I really didn't think this through...' "Sergeant Sunset Shimmer!" Dusky said loudly, slapping her hoof onto the table. Sunset snapped back to reality and realized that she had ignored her friend. She saw both Dusky and Flower Jade with worried expressions on their faces. "S-Sorry about that, I was just... daydreaming." "Daydreaming? No offense, Sunset, but that didn't look like any normal daydreaming to me." Dusky Sight said. "I have to agree with her there, Sunset. You seemed to be panicking there, are you alright?" Flower Jade asked, concerned for her friend. Sunset looked at her friends and smiled weakly, "Yeah, I'm alright now. There were just some things on my mind, that's all." Flower Jade and Dusky Sight looked at each other before shrugging. They could always ask about this later on. Right now, they have bigger problems on their hooves. "Alright then, Sunset. Finish your food and drink and then pack your things. We'll be leaving soon and group up with the others." Dusky Sight informed. As Sunset ate her food, the question of what was about to happen swirled throughout her mind. She hoped, and she hoped, that she and her friends will be safe from whatever harm comes their way. =///Twelve hours later, Neighchorage Air Base, 2100 hours\\\= Under the night sky of Equis illuminated by Luna's moonlight, over twenty thousand REAF soldiers lined up waiting to be transported by military airship. If one were to look at the massive crowd of REAF soldiers, they would notice that the majority of them were nervous. Some were even shaking, but were nonetheless reassured by surrounding ponies. As they awaited for their transportation, a high ranking officer spoke up, "Listen up, everypony! Saddle up and get ready to make your way to the LZ! We'll be leaving in 15 minutes. If you are not ready by then, you WILL be left behind and WILL clean the base with anypony left behind!" After hearing what their commanding officer said, the ponies began gearing up quickly. They packed various things ranging from: MRE's, weaponry, armor, equipment, and various other things found commonly on the REAF soldier. Just like the rest of the soldiers, Sunset and her squad prepared their military gear. They all wore the same standard military armor as other troops in the REAF. Of course, there were only a few minor differences such as the red and white stripes used by Crystal Tender to indicate that she is a medic, and purple-bluish stripes used by Sunset to indicate that she is both a battle mage and the leader of her squad. With her military gear, Sunset also brought a saddle bag filled with magical crystals that could be used as backup sources of magical energy if needed. Also in the bag, she carried her personal diary. She often writes many things on her mind in her diary, so this was more of a thing for her than for anyone else. As the group began finishing gearing up, the area around them began to grow quiet. The staging ground was full of ponies, but it was like only a select few were there. It was understandable though, all of them were both excited and nervous about their upcoming deployment to a real situation instead of the usual training situation. Sunset took a deep breath before looking at her squad. She silently hoped that she and her friends can make it through the campaign alive. Despite not showing it, she truly did care for her friends. She never expected that she herself would socialize, let alone make friends in a military academy. She chuckled softly at herself, the thought of her making friends in such a quick fashion was crazy, but here she was, leading her friends into a potential danger zone. "Alright, is everypony ready?" Sunset asked. "I am ready, I think..." replied an unsure Emerald Ace. "Mhm." Thunder Spark answered calmly. "Absolutely." Flower Jade answered confidently. "Erm... yeah... sure." Dusky Sight answered uncertainly. "Of course!" Crystal Tender answered energetically Sunset Shimmer smiled at them. She was glad that they could all stay together as one squad and she could be the one leading them. She promised herself that she would keep them safe, and she planned on keeping that promise. As the ponies at the staging grounds talked amongst each other, the sounds of 'whup-whup-whup' can be heard from a distance. At first, the ponies dismissed it as strong winds so they didn't pay it much mind. As time went on though, the sounds only got louder and louder. The ponies began to look to look around their surrounding areas, but could only spot what they have already seen around the staging grounds. Finding nothing of interest, they took their gaze to the skies, and they gasped in amazement. Up above the staging grounds, lights began to break through the cloud cover. It wasn't daytime, so the ponies were curious as to what was causing the lights. Moments later, they received their answers in the form of a spectacular entrance. The clouds broke apart, the noise grew incredibly loud, and up above the staging grounds revealed one of the United Kingdom of Equestria's prized achievements, an air fleet. Despite not having a dedicated air force, they had one hell of a corps called the Airship Air Corps, and the ponies on the grounds reassured that. "S-Sweet Celestia, that thing is huge!" cried out one of the pony soldiers. "Where on Equus did the UKE find this type of funding?!" exclaimed another. "Oh my Faust, that entrance is awesome!" yelled out a very excited Crystal Tender. The airships were grand and incredibly huge. Some sported four propeller engines while some held eight. Various types of weaponry can be found on the sides of the airships while some held barely any. The logo of the Airship Air Corps can be seen, displaying it to all those that pay attention to the airship. The spotlights on board the airship were bright, illuminating the staging grounds below. It was bright, but it didn't hurt any of the pony's eyes due to a special magic being involved. As the airships began to land, the winds generated from the propellers blew back most of the ponies as the gargantuan airships grew closer and closer to the ground. The airships landed with a mighty thud and with it, their entrances opened up to carry the soldiers to Iraqquus. There were more than 40 military airships deployed in this operation. More than enough to transport twenty thousand troops and their supplies to all parts of Equestria, or in this case, Iraqquus. The air fleet consisted of 15 Province-Class Airships and 25 City-Class Airships. All of them were commissioned from various provinces in Coltlombia. Province-Class Airship : EAS Flowerida, EAS Idahoof, EAS Ohayo, EAS Neighbraska, EAS Mareland, EAS Neighvada, EAS Windsconsin, EAS, Haylabama, EAS Haywaii, EAS Ponysylvania, EAS Neigh York, EAS Coltorado, EAS Maressissippi, EAS Mareizona, EAS Califoalnia. City-Class Airship : EAS Trottawa, EAS Mareami, EAS Vanhoover, EAS Seaddle, EAS San Franciscolt, EAS Mareputo, EAS Dayllas, EAS Bronclyn, EAS Wilmareton, EAS San Antoneigho, EAS Chicacolt, EAS Atlantrot EAS Horsululu, EAS Whinnyapolis, EAS San Dineighgo, EAS Lasso Ageles, EAS Detrot, EAS Applewood, EAS Baltimare, EAS Manehattan, EAS Bostone, EAS Fillydelphia, EAS Denvier, EAS Las Pegasus, EAS Horuston. "Alright everypony, board your designated airships! If you can not find your designated airships, go towards anypony wearing a green vest for assistance!" informed one of the high ranking ponies. Soon enough, the entire legion began making their way towards the airships. They carried with them their gear, equipment, and personal belongings that were small enough and didn't break any rules of the REAF. Of course, there were some that didn't know their designated airships, but were helped by ponies wearing a green vest. In the crowd, Sunset and her squad began making their way to their airships: the EAS San Dineighgo. It was quite a travel since their airship landed quite a bit away from them, and it didn't help that the legion was only beginning to organize themselves, but after some time, they made it. Their designated airship was all the same like the rest. The only way to tell it apart was its printed name on the side and some customization paintings that were also on the side of the airship. They got in line and walked slowly towards the entrance. "So, how do you feel about the upcoming deployment, Sergeant Sunset Shimmer?" asked Dusky Sight. Sunset Shimmer turned towards her with a sigh, "I have no clue, some part of me is excited while the other is nervous..." Dusky Sight laid a hoof on her friend, "It's alright to be nervous, Sunset. I mean, I'm still nervous about this, but knowing that I'm with ponies I trust, that eased my mind a bit." Sunset smiled weakly at her words, "Yeah, I guess you're right. But still, there's just that..." -she trailed off momentarily to find the right words, but couldn't find it at all- "I don't know... that feeling you get when you're unsure of something." "Oh, you'll be fine, Sunset. Besides, you have me and the others, right guys?" both Sunset and Dusky turned towards the rest of their squad, to which Sunset was greeted with reassuring smiles of her friends. "Of course!" smiled Crystal Tender. "I'll be here." said Flower Jade. "Mhm." plainly replied Thunder Spark. "I-I mean, I won't always be there, but I'll try my best!" said Emerald Ace. After the positive words by her friends, Dusky Sight turned towards Sunset Shimmer with a soft smile, "We're here for you, Sunset. We'll get through this together because we're a team, and we're friends." Sunset smiled back, "Thank you, Dusky. I am grateful to have you as my friend." -she turned towards the rest of her friends- "And you guys as well. I really needed that." Her friends nodded positively in response to her words. Two minutes later, the group was within the confines of the airship. After Sunset and her friends walked in, they immediately placed down their gear/equipment in whatever room they were told to go and sat down. The airship was kind of a mix between luxury and functionality. For luxury, there were rooms dedicated to each squad or group, there were viewing platforms for each pony to visit, and there was a mess hall for the ponies on board. For functionality, there was the obvious such as: the armory, the bridge, engines room, dedicated areas to weapons, and more. After the group settled down, they and other ponies on board began to feel the airship slowly rising into the air. Some ponies such as Sunset and her friends rushed towards the viewing platforms to get a look at the action. They saw themselves growing higher and higher in altitude and soon enough, they were above the clouds. Minutes later, the PA came to life, "Mares and Stallions of the 212th Legion, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard the EAS San Dineighgo, one of the many airships apart of the Airship Air Corps. Winds are decent and the weather outside is... decent. We'll arrive at our destination in thirty-four hours so sit tight and ready yourselves." As soon as the PA came on, it came off as quickly as it went. The ponies, including Sunset and her friends, soon enough returned to their rooms and began to rest for the upcoming mission. As Sunset laid on her back, staring ahead of her, she grew worried once more. The thought of the dangers ahead kept her awake. But, she reminded herself that she and her new found friends were doing this together, and not alone as she is used to. Her worries soon faded, as soon enough, she went to sleep. =///Thirty-four hours later, few kilometers from Syrea-Iraqquus provincial border, 0700 hours\\\= Above the sky of the central Asina region, the same fleet of airships that left Neighchorage Air Base were flying undisturbed above the desert region below. In one of the cabins of the EAS San Dineighgo, Sunset and her friends were sleeping together in bunk beds that were provided. The journey from North-East Coltlombia to Central Asina was smooth sailing since hours earlier, the flight path had been cleared by the weather pegasi stationed in the area. The ponies, both the crew of the airships and the soldiers being transported, enjoyed their smooth ride. Their beds were comfortable and soft, the food was decent, and the view was magnificent. The only complaint the crew received was the heating system, or lack there of. Even though the experience was good for the soldiers, all good things must come to an end. "WAKE UP YOU LAZY FILLIES! GET TO THE DECK OF THE AIRSHIP RIGHT NOW OR HELP ME FAUST, I WILL ORDER MY OFFICERS TO FORCIBLY PULL YOU OUT OF YOUR CABINS, WHETHER YOU'RE READY OR NOT!" General Obay Wind's voice was blaring loudly throughout the airship's PA system. Everypony in the airship woke up with a startled mind. This was not how they wanted to wake up on their first deployment. The reflexes from their three months of training suddenly flashed in instant as they immediately got off their beds, readied up, and made their way to the deck, post haste. They all crowded into the deck. Most were obviously tired, while some few were up and ready with high energy. In the crowd of ponies, Sunset and her friend stood near the front and like the rest, they seemed tired as well. "Sweet Celestia, what's even the time?" questioned Crystal Tender tiredly. "Uhh..." -Thunder Spark turned to look at a clock nearby- "Early o'clock?" "Woah, that is early." replied Crystal Tender. As the soldiers settled down on the deck of the airship, General Obay Wind spoke up, "Listen up! We are nearing our destination! Get your gear and ready up in ETA ten minutes! Once we make landfall, meet up nearby the stage so you can get an idea on what's going to happen! You are all dismissed!" As soon as they were dismissed, the soldiers took off in a hurry. Ten minutes was not a lot of time to ready up, so they had to use every single second. They took their belongings, equipment, gear, and whatever they brought along for their first deployment. As the other soldiers and the general left, Sunset Shimmer took the time to look at the window. What she saw was that the land that should have been filled with filled with trees and life, was now replaced by a lifeless sandy desert that stretched as far as her eyes can see. This was the first time Sunset had ever seen a desert other than in the books. It looked really different when seen in pony, and the pictures found in the books she read didn't do it justice. She turned away from the windows before heading back to her room to ready up. She took one last glance at the desert below, then she walked away. Everything was just about to get started. (Author's note : This part of the story will be heavily inspired by scenes from the movie 'JARHEAD', it's okay if you haven't seen that movie yet.) =///Forward Operating Base Harmony (FOB Harmony), 0710 hours, a few kilometers from the Iraqquus border\\\= The airships landed with a mighty thud upon the desert sand. All the soldiers began to dismount from their airships and unloaded their equipment and supplies for the upcoming operation. If one were to observe from afar, the scene would've been similar to ants working about. Imagine this scene but replace the Boeing 707 with an airship, a big airship. Sunset and her friends got off the EAS San Dineighgo along with the rest of the soldiers on board the airship. They were greeted by the desert sun, high temperatures, and a flurry of activity within the FOB. The soldiers that got off looked around their surroundings, and they could witness the EAS Idahoof making its descent towards one of the open areas of the FOB. In another area, various war elephants could be seen. Their backs were mounted with heavy ballista's, each mount looking very intimidating. Sunset gasped at the sight of the mighty beings and the weapons they sported. If memory served her right, the tip of the ballista bolts were enchanted with explosive magic, very explosive magic. So, if the bolts were to hit its intended target, the tip would explode and destroy everything near it. Despite it being a genius piece of pony innovation, this magical weapon were one of the main factors that caused Equestria and all of Equis to never develop artillery or tanks. Setting that aside, Sunset and her friends lined up with the amassing troops near a stage. They all had to wait there for up to twenty minutes for all the troops and supplies to be unloaded from the airships. So, to kill time, the soldiers conversed with each other. Whether it'd be about the deployment or something else, they managed to entertain themselves for the time being. After all the preparations were done and over with, a pegasus stallion emerged from a nearby building with decorated armor. As it turned out, the pegasus stallion was General Obay Winds Kenobe, the General of the 212th Legion. He looked at the crowd of ponies down below. He knew that he was about to deal with a bunch of ponies that had never seen any combat in their lives, had never seen any form of violence except from stories or from some act. This operation was going to be their first taste of war, and knowing ponies that had never seen war, this was going to be difficult. He felt bad for them, but alas, duty comes first. Despite this being a new legion, and despite their inexperience's, he promised himself to help this legion become one of the very best the UKE had ever seen. He walked up the stairs and onto the stage. In front of the stage, there was a megaphone, and it seemed that it was for him. He walked towards it, all proud and mighty, but with a sense of calm. He stopped in front of the megaphone, and adjusted it to his height. He took a deep breath, and spoke loudly into it, "Attention!" The ponies down below ceased their conversations and immediately payed attention to the general. "Good morning, legionaries!" he said. Everypony answered in unison, "Good morning, sir!" "For Faust's sake, did you just land in a potential war zone or a funeral parlor? Good morning legionaries!" "GOOD MORNING, SIR!" Everypony answered in unison, but in a louder tone. "WHOO! I just felt my high ground shaking!" the general said. [*All the legionaries start laughing*] The general cleared his throat before speaking once more, "For those of you that don't know me, I am General Obay Winds Kenobe, and I am in charge of this legion. We are now apart of Operation Desert Shield. Right now, just north of us," -he pointed his right hoof north- "Seeddam Hayssein has got one ten thousand Iraqquus soldiers." -he layed his hoof down- "Now, I must make it clear, some of those mare and stallions under his command have been fighting since you were nine or ten years old. They are tough, they are nasty, and they will stop at nothing. They've even used nerve potions against Keuwait's population. Now, I must warn you, what I'm about to show you is not for the light hearted." Behind the general, a picture popped up, a nasty picture. All the legionaries looked stunned and angered of the picture showing a Maregypt stallion being caught in the nerve potion's effects. (Note : Nerve potions are basically the Equis version of Nerve gas. Its invented by Zebranica Empire in 670 CLD) "Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'let's kick the hay out of them' and 'let's show 'em who's boss!', correct?" General Obay Winds Kenobe asked. "YES, SIR!" everypony answered loudly. "Haha! That's the answer I'm looking for! Unfortunately, the princesses have a lot of jaw bonin' to do, so for now, these rebels who have pillaged poor little Keuwait are not in our reach yet. Our current mission is to protect the magic crystal fields until further notice. Mares and gentlecolts, I'm talking a lot of crystals, a LOT of crystals. So, you will hydrate, you will train, you will adjust to this desert, and you'll hydrate some more! After those things, you will be ready, and you will maintain a constant state of alertness so that soon, Seeddam Haysssein will regret pulling this sorry act!" OORAH!!! "We're gonna kick some rebel flank!" one of the soldiers said enthusiastically. "Hahaha! What did you say?" the General Wind's asked with a smile. "We're gonna kick some rebel flank, sir!" The soldier repeated. The general laughed a hearty laugh, "Oh hay, colt, you're gonna win the Medal of Honor all by yourself with that attitude! What's the rest of my Legion going do?" "Kick some rebelflanks!" everypony answered in unison. "You know what? I think it's time for me to retire because I can't hear a BUCKIN' THING!" "Kick some rebel flank!" everypony answered in unison. "Haha! That's the spirit, ponies!" -the general smiled- "Now, setting that aside, I have something to say before we all go." He cleared his throat before speaking, "Out there, a bunch of innocent ponies are under a cruel rule. A government in which uses inequine weapons against civilians. They are monsters, but like all monsters, they get defeated. We may not be the best, we may not be the brightest, but with time, we will become those things." "Now, I am aware that this will be your first taste of combat, and I am aware of your concerns, despite how enthusiastic you all may seem. But, I will assure you all, I will do my utmost best to keep this legion and its troops safe. You all have training, and you will all use that training to the best of your ability." "This is the UKE's first provincial rebellion in years, mares and gentlecolts, and it's the most troublesome yet. It'll be quite hard to defeat his soldiers, but may I remind you all again that we are the UKE's most finest fighting force! We are its sword and shield, and we shall uphold our duty like many before us has done!" "We will defeat them one way or another, no matter the cost. Be it rain or shine, windy or not, we'll beat them. Dismissed." =/// Somewhere in Iraquus (or somewhere near it) \\\= Imagine this scene but replace the marines with ponies. The 212th Legion marched across the desert landscape. As they marched, ponies from every unit started singing a song, a song that was sung throughout the history of the REAF's history. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮United Forever, Hurrah! Friends, hurrah!𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮Down with the traitors, Up with the stars; 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮While we rally round the flag, friends, Rally once again, Shouting the battle cry of Harmony. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮We are springing to the call Of our brothers and sisters gone before, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮Shouting the battle cry of Harmony; And we'll fill our vacant ranks with A million freeponies more, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮Shouting the battle cry of Harmony. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮We will welcome to our numbers 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮The loyal, true and brave, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮Shouting the battle cry of Harmony; 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮And although they may be poor, No nation shall be a democracy, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮Shouting the battle cry of Harmony. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮So we're springing to the call 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮From the East and from the West, Shouting the battle cry of Harmony; 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮And we'll hurl the rebel crew From the land that we love best, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮Shouting the battle cry of Harmony. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 They sang other songs afterwards. Besides, there's nothing much to do in a desert biome so they had to kill time somehow. =///More than seven hours later, 30 kilometers from the Iraqquus capital Bagshdad, 1500 hours\\\= It has been more than five hours since they left the FOB. They walked at a moderate pace through the desert, but it was really hot. Even with the general's permission to rest for fifteen minutes for every hour of marching, several ponies (especially unicorns), fainted from exhaustion and heat. Thankfully, these types of incidents can easily be taken care of since no one had died from the heat or exhaustion. They were halfway from the border to the enemy capital, yet they encountered no enemies during their journey. The only notable thing that they saw were abandoned villages during their march. If one were to think about it, those villages would've been the perfect ambush spot for a large marching army. So, with them being empty, it confused the officers and some legionnaires. Even so, the general still ordered the troops to stay alert. He did not want the ponies under his command to be caught off guard and hit by an ambush. =///Meanwhile\\\= "Argh... this is so boring! Flower Jade complained. "Yeah, and my leg feels like it's going to fall off." Emerald Ace commented. "Oh come on, guys! Don't be like that. I'm certain that the rebels will soon be showing their flanks soon enough." Crystal Tender responded. Sunset remained silent as her friends talked with each other. She kept her eyes fixed ahead and was growing anxious by the minute. To her, it felt like they were heading straight into a trap. Her focused gaze suddenly stopped the moment once a voice spoke to her. "Hey, Sunset?" the voice asked. Sunset turned towards the voice and saw that it was Dusky Sight, and she seemed worried? "Yes, Dusky? What's wrong?" Sunset replied. "I don't like this one bit. Everything feels strange for hours on end." -she looked around herself before turning to Sunset- "Do you remember about the battle in the Teutoburg Forest that we read about in the academy library?" The Battle of Tehutoburg Forest, she remembered that event in one of her history books. It was one of the most disastrous battles in Equestrian military history. It happened in 0015 CLD when the United Kingdom of Equestria was still a very young nation. The 034th Legion, led by Commander Hurricane, went on an expedition to the northern Germane province. Their goal was actually to find and integrate other pony tribes that had not yet joined the United Kingdom of Equestria, that being the Thestrals (A.K.A batponies) to be precise. As expeditions go, this one was thought to be plain and simple, but they couldn't have been more wrong. As night came upon the 034th Legion, hundreds of thestrals suddenly ambushed them. The battle lasted for hours, and it soon ended in the deaths/missing of over twenty thousand ponies. One of the survivors from the expedition commented that, "Everything was quiet on that day. Everypony was getting worried, but the commander wouldn't listen to us. He said that the thestrals were just weak barbarians who couldn't put out a fight, but he was brutally wrong. I still remember how the one of the thestrals brutally chopped up somepony's legs up and sucked their blood as if they were a mango.' Thankfully, both parties made peace a few years later, but the event had never been forgotten. "Yes, I remember it quite well. Why do you ask?" "Think about it! No enemy in sight, we're out in the open, this is just like the battle." Dusky responded. Sunset lightly chuckled at her friend's behavior, "Don't be ridiculous, Dusky. To attack this legion out in the open will be equally bad for them since we have better equipment." Sunset assured. "Yeah, I guess you're right, but I'll still keep my eye out." They continued walking under the hot, bright sun. It was a couple of steps later until Sunset stopped in her tracks. Her friends stopped as well as they turned to look back at Sunset who was staring at something in the distance. To most normal ponies, this was just a plain firmament lensing effect, but Sunset knew better. She had been taught magic for her entire life by her mother, and one thing her mother taught her was to identify cloaking magic. "Sunset, you good?" asked a concerned Thunder Spark. No response from the sergeant. "Sunset?" he asked again. Sunset turned her head towards Thunder Spark with an anxious look on her face. "We're walking into a trap." she muttered. "What?" She replied louder this time, "We're walking into a trap. Spread the word!" Sunset quickly dashed over towards the front of the legion, quickly leaving a group of confused friends and those that were near her. "Sunset, wait! What are you doing?!" Dusky yelled out as Sunset grew further and further away. "IT'S A TRAP!" she shouted back. As soon as those words left her mouth, everyone within an earshot turned their gazes to Sunset Shimmer who was running towards the forefront of the column. Even the general, who was ways away, turned to look at the sergeant as she came to a screeching halt. Before anyone within the legion could ask what Sunset Shimmer meant, Sunset's horn shone brilliantly in the daylight sun, a swirl of dust began to gather around her, and she began to chant in an ancient dialect. Soon enough, after she finished chanting, he horn shone as brightly as it could, and fired one of the most deadliest offensive spells known to equinity, the 'I'M FIRING MAH LAZOR' spell. The laser arced into the horizon, and with a bright flash, a multitude of explosions happened in the distance. KÅ BÖŌM The horizon's view began to falter and shift. What was once an empty land soon changed and revealed an entire army of rebel troops that sported multiple heavy weapon such as the Ballistae, Trebuchets, and Petrary. Realizing that they were no longer hidden, the rebel troops prepared their crossbows and began crewing their heavy weapons. A flurry of yelling and a ton of movement can be heard, even from the 212th Legion's position. The general saw this, and turned to face his legion of soldiers. He won't allow them to harm a single pony in their first strike. "SHIELDS UP!" The general yelled out. The unicorns in the legion frantically channeled their magical energy into their horns and began to cast the famous 'THEY SHALL NOT PASS' spell. With a flash, a magical forcefield surrounded the entirety of the legion, and in the nick of time. The moment the forcefield was ready, a wall of arrows, ballista bolts, and two-ton rocks, were deflected harmlessly by the forcefield. The rebel troops, seeing as their initial strike failed, launched salvo after salvo against the Equestrian troops. They knew that as long as they continued to shower their enemies with arrows and whatever projectiles they had, their shields will soon falter since the 212th Legion had to take cover under their shields for they could not launch an effective counter attack. (All of this is possible due to their use of the Repeating Crossbow MK1 supplied by their foreign benefactor which comes from the continent that lies to the east of Equestrian continent. The crossbow was capable of firing more than five arrows with one magazine in semi-automatic fire.) Though a genius piece of Griffon innovation, this crossbow is one of the main factors that caused the Griffonian Empire and all of Equis to never develop a gunpowder weapons. =///Meanwhile\\\= "For Faust's sake, how many arrows do they have?" Thunder Spark said with annoyance. "Must be in the billions." Emerald Ace replied. "If so, we're going to be here for hours! This is absolute horseshit!" Thunder Spark cursed. "Calm down, Thunder Spark, we need to figure out how to stop this instead of complaining. The shield won't last forever." Sunset Shimmer remarked. She was right. As the group turned to one of the battle mages near them, his horn began to dim, and he had collapsed due to exhaustion. Multiple ponies nearby ran towards the tired battle mage, and began to treat him on the spot. The situation was beginning to grow grim, and for the moment, they had no plan. "Sunset, I have an idea if you're willing to hear it." a voice said. Sunset Shimmer turned to the voice, and saw that it was Crystal Tender. "Well, let's hear it out. Besides, we don't have anything at the moment so any idea is better than none." responded Sunset Shimmer. Crystal Tender continued, "Do you remember that one time at the training field when you and Dusky Sight accidently used that strange wind magic to repel that javelin? Is it possible to use it here?" Sunset raised a hoof towards her chin, and started to think about it. The magic Crystal Tender was referring to was discovered completely by accident when she and Dusky were practicing at the training grounds when, a few weeks ago, one of the ponies accidentally launched a javelin at her and Dusky. Sunset reflexively fired an air blast magic at the spear's general direction while Dusky created a wind vortex to strengthen her wind blast. The javelin was successfully repelled, and both the ponies might have accidently created a magical combo. "But that was completely on reflex, Crystal. We never even tried it again after that." Sunset replied. "Yeah, Crystal Tender, we don't even know if it'll work. For all we know, it could be a flop." said Dusky Sight. "Oh, but it's worth a try! It's better than sitting around while being showered with arrows." says Crystal Tender. Sunset Shimmer sighed at her friend's behavior. Why must she always be so positive? Then again, due to her optimistic views, she came up with an idea that may possibly work. "Before I say my answer, does anypony else have any other ideas?" Sunset asked. They all shook their heads in response. "Alright then, let's do it." Sunset turned towards Flower Jade who was currently standing beside Crystal Tender. "Flower Jade, call in a pegasi legionaries unit and tell them to create a wind vortex around here. I know how to stop this stalemate." Sunset ordered. Flower Jade's eyes widened at the unexpected order, "Y-Yes, give me a minute." Flower Jade picked up her military radio and relayed her orders to any pegasi units under the legions command. After a few minutes, she got an answer and were told to sit tight. "We got it! They're allowing the deployment of the RA-10 Ground Attack Team to create the wind vortex you asked for. Estimated ETA is 2 minutes!" Sunset Shimmer smiled at the news, "Well done, Flower Jade! Sit tight, guys, I'll tell the general about the plan." Sunset turned away from her friends and ran towards the front of the legion, weaving between soldiers and heavy weapons alike. The sounds of projectiles bouncing off the forcefield can still be heard, but she doesn't care. Her mind was on one thing, and one thing only. She was grateful that they chose to march closely to the front, because soon enough, she was in front of the general. The general was surprised at her appearance, but nevertheless, he raised a brow at the mare, and spoke, "Sergeant Sunset Shimmer? What's the meaning of this?" "General, I have a plan and you may want to hear it." 2 minutes later... After waiting for two minutes, the RA-10 Ground Attack Team sent towards the legion flew above them, out of the range of the rebel troops weaponry. Soon after their arrival, Flower Jade's radio went off. [R]: "This is Wind Rider with the RA-10 Ground Attack Team. You called?" Flower Jade picked up her radio and responded, "Read you loud and clear, Wind Rider. Are you aware of the plan?" [R]: "A wind vortex, strong and proud, correct?" "That is correct, Wind Rider, proceed with the plan." [R]: "Roger that, Wind Rider out" With the confirmation from Flower Jade, the RA-10 Ground Attack Team neared the border of the magic shield and began flying in circles rapidly to create a wind vortex. Slowly, but surely, a wind vortex formed and grew bigger and bigger with each passing second. After Sunset felt that the vortex was big enough, she began to gather her magical energy in her horn and begun chanting yet another powerful spell, this time dealing with wind magic. After she finished chanting the spell, she fired her air blast magic towards the vortex above her. The RA-10 Ground Attack Team had been notified before she had fired the spell, so they were already ways away when the spell contacted the wind vortex. With a massive boom, the wind vortex itself quickly expanded towards the rebel troops, like a tidal wave made out of wind. Any projectiles that were in the air was immediately blown back, hitting some of the unfortunate rebels troops with their own arrows. The battlefield went silent as all the ponies in the 212th Legion and even the rebel troops, were stunned, shocked, or even amazed by what they had just seen. Such a thing had never been seen in pony history, or any history for that matter. The stuff that Sunset Shimmer pulled off was something out of fiction. Three seconds passed, and the silence was interrupted by Flower Jade as she stood on her forehooves, and pointed towards her enemies. "Let's drop some shit on those motherbuc-!" "OPEN FIRE!" the general ordered. The battle mages in the 212th Legion quickly dropped their defensive shield magic spells to deadly offensive spells. They charged up their magic in a quick fashion, and fired volleys of heavy explosive magic, AKA ' WHAT'S UP BUCKERS!' for those that are not unicorns. The spells sped towards the lines of the rebels troops, and they barely had time to react. The big explosions that happened afterwards devoured the rebel forces whole, especially those on the front lines. Within less than a minute, the enemy troops lost more than 1/4 of their total number and lost a substantial amount of Ballistae and Trebuchet siege weapons. Not wanting to give the rebel forces any time to recover, General Wind's gave the order to charge towards the enemy position. "LEGIONNAIRIES, CHARGE! FOR EQUESTRIA!" yelled General Wind's at the top of his lungs. "FOR EQUESTRIA!!!" Everypony in the Legion shouted in unison The ponies in the 212th Legion, ranging from the unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, and even some thestrals, boldly charged towards the enemy position, firing spells, projectiles, or even rocks found on the ground. The rebel troops were yet again caught off guard by this, they had never expected a new legion to do such a bold act, and because of this, many of them fell victim to the legion. Hundreds of rebel troops died to the Equestrian legionnaires, but that didn't stop them from retaliating back. They would not allow their new republic's independence to be taken away without a fight. The rebel forces launched their own counter attack upon the 212th Legion, fighting tooth and nail against the new encroaching legion. They fought with swords, bows, spells, and any form of lethal weapons they had at hoof. Many legionnaires fell to their weapons, but an equal amount of rebel troops died as well. They failed to push back the Equestrians because they were completely outnumbered. Despite their combat experience, even a well experienced army can get overwhelmed with an army equally as trained as them and as well equipped as them. Even their new crossbows, despite being in semi-automatic mode, wasn't very effective at close range so they had no choice, but to go old school. =///A few minutes later\\\= The tides of the battle started to fall against the rebels favor, but that doesn't mean the 212th Legion didn't suffer casualties of their own. One of the surviving enemy Trebuchets had managed to score a hit on one of the Equestrian's war elephants, smashing it by two-tons of rock, killing both the unfortunate rider, and the elephant. It created a sickening splat that made Sunset Shimmer and other ponies want to vomit. "Horseapples! This is slaughter house! A slaughter house I tell you!" cried out Emerald Ace. "ARGH! Call the ambulance! Call the ambulance, ahaha! But not for me!~" said Flower Jade before she smashed one of rebel soldier head into smush with her warhammer, scattering the brain matter across the desert sand. "Oh my Celestia! What the buck is wrong with you, Jade?!" Thunder Spark said in disgust. "She's gone mad!" declared Dusky Sight while firing an arrow at one of the rebel soldiers. "Stay focused on the battle, guys!" -she fired another offensive spell- "I don't want to lose anypony today!" Sunset Shimmer shouted. "Oh let me guess, is it because that going to be a lot of paperwork?" joked Crystal Tender as she tended to one of the injured legionnaires. Sunset Shimmer whipped her head towards Crystal Tender, "For Faust's sake, Tender! Really?!" Sunset said, frustrated. The battle continued on for several minutes, and the rebel numbers started to dwindle. They had suffered more than five-thousand casualties, almost 3/4 of their original number. With no other option available, the rebel commander had no choice, but to retreat. A horn sounded amidst the battle, and a call for retreat. After hearing the sounds of a trumpet, and a call for retreat, the rebels tactically ran from the battlefield, putting in one more strike before they head back. Seeing the enemy trying to retreat from the battle, General Obay Wind's ordered the Legionaries to chase the rebel troops down. They 212th Legion followed his orders, and managed to capture at least 800 rebel soldiers while the rest managed to run away. All the 212th Legion had to do now, was to treat their wounded, and evacuate them from the battlefield to receive proper medical treatment in the FOB. The dead? They will be properly buried in their home provinces, and be remembered for their services, despite their services unfortunately being cut short. Thus, with that, the first battle for Iraqquus was now over. > One Step From Heaven > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the battle ended, medics and legionnaires that had nothing to do, assisted other units in the 212th Legion and began to attend to the wounded and count the dead. They constructed makeshift tents and other facilities for medical operations. They estimated that they lost more than two-thousand troops, and double that of the wounded. Sunset Shimmer sat in one of the makeshift tents set up by the military to treat the wounded. She only suffered minor injuries from a Pilum attack and experienced a minor headache and exhaustion from overusing her magical energy during the battle, but all in all, she was fine. Her friends also survived the battle without any major wounds as well. Though, Thunder Spark suffered a medium sized wound on his forelegs after being hit by an enemy arrow, but he should be able to recover quickly from what the medics tell her. She wanted to know what the general would do now since the rest of the legion were beginning to wrap up their temporary medical situation. 'Perhaps marching again towards the enemy defensive line and wiping out the rest of the enemy forces?' she thought. She chuckled to herself. Maybe not at the moment, no. Luckily for her, she will soon get her answer. "Hey, Sunset. How are you?" asked Dusky Sight. "I'm doing fine. Well, fine enough for a mare that used a LOT of magic. Crystal Tender has given me medicine for the headache, and she has also given me an energy potion to refill my magical energy." -she raised a brow as Dusky Sight's expression changed slightly- "I suppose you're not here for the usual chit-chat, yes?" Dusky Sight sighed, "Right on the dot as usual, Sunset. General Wind's would like to see you." "Eh? For what?" Sunset asked curiously. Dusky Sight shrugged, "I don't really know, he says its important." Sunset Shimmer shook her head, "Alright, just let me ready myself." After five seconds, Sunset was ready and Dusky escorted her towards the General Obay Winds' tent. They maneuvered through a bunch of resting ponies as they talked to each other on the way. There were some injured ponies here and there, but most of them were treated. Unfortunately, they had to go past the bodies. The ponies that had fallen were covered with blankets (respectfully), and were organized in a neat row. The two winced at the sight, but that's just about it. Within a minute, the bodies were out of sight, and they came upon the general's tent. Dusky Sight pointed towards the tent, "The general is waiting inside, sergeant." "Addressing me by rank now?" "We're near the general's tent, sergeant, we have to." Dusky Sight responded in a serious tone. 'That's new.' -she shrugged- 'Eh, I'll go with it.' she thought. "Thanks, Corporal Dusky Sight. Wait with the others while I talk to the general." Sunset ordered. "Of course, sergeant." Sunset soon entered the tent and saw General Obay Winds sitting in his chair. Within the tent were various objects, though most of them seem to have its use. She focused more on the general, and saw that he was facing the latest battle map on a table. The looked up from the map, and smiled, "Ah, you finally arrived, Sergeant Sunset Shimmer." -his smile turned into a grin- "Or should I say, the daughter of the Solar Primarch, Princess Celestia, to be more precise?" Sunset's heart dropped and her pupils grew a tad bit smaller. She was prepared for many things: the enemy, spiders, unsavory food, and more. But, she was unprepared for what the general had said. 'How did he know?!' "W-What do you mean, sir? Ahaha! I'm not her d-daughter, sir, that's simply... erm... ridiculous! Yeah, that's ridiculous!" Sunset was a nervous wreck. The general chuckled at her reaction, "Hahaha! Don't worry, sergeant, much of your personal information is still kept secret. Princess Celestia gave specific orders not to disclose any of it to the public." Sunset Shimmer was no longer a nervous wreck. She sighed in relief and wiped her forehead of sweat. She honestly thought that she was about to be discharged for being the daughter of a princess. "Phew... Thank you, sir, I honestly thought I was about to be discharged." -she tilted her head slightly in curiosity- "By the way, why did you call me here?" "I called you here because I want to assign you and your squad for recon missions deep into enemy lines. Your previous acts before the battle saved so many ponies in this legion, so to prevent us from walking straight into enemy traps again, I want to deploy you and your team to scout the area ahead for any dangers." She was caught by surprise yet again. Sunset never expected that she and her team would be deployed under the general's direct orders. And to be assigned to a scouting role? That's quite a job to uphold. "Are you sure, sir? Aren't there other recon teams within the legion that is better at this task?" H shook his head, "Unfortunately, that is not the case. For some apparent reason, you are the only battle mage in this legion who has the capability to recognize Cloaking Spells without the help of constant use of magical sighting." -he leaned forward- "Setting that aside, are you and your team up for the task, sergeant?" She thought about it as this was sudden. A scouting role for her and her squad, that's a lot of responsibility suddenly on their backs. To be the first defense to an entire marching legion, it's no mystery that she took some time to think. There were some pros and cons to scouting for an entire legion. On one hoof, she could save many lives, but on the other, if they were spotted, they'd be far from the main group. After some thinking and weighing both the pros and cons, she decided to accept the role. "Yes, sir, we're up for the task." The general smiled, "Good! You and your team have twenty minutes to get ready for the mission. Air support will always be available, so be sure to use that your advantage." -his face turned serious as his tone took a darker turn- "Remember, the fate of the entire legion are on you and your team's hooves, do I make myself clear?" "Yes, sir!" "That's what I want to hear, sergeant. You are now dismissed, carry on." =///Meanwhile, in a different tent\\\= "Wait, wait, wait - it gets better. When the patient woke up, his skeleton was missing and the doctor was never heard from again!" Crystal Tender chuckled as she tells a story of her father, while also tending to Thunder Spark's wound. Everypony in the tent gave a nervous laugh in response to her story. All of them, except for Flower Jade and a random bandaged pony at the end of the tent who gave a genuine one at Crystal's sickening story. Flower Jade smacked the table near her, "Ahaha! That's hilarious! The pony at the end of tent who had both his hooves bandaged up, agreed with Flower Jade, "I agree with the crazy one! Shits got me laughing up a storm!" Dusky Sight shook her head, "You both are crazy..." she muttered. Emerald Ace nodded at Dusky Sight, "Couldn't have said it better myself." Crystal Tender smiled, "Ahh... It is quite funny. It's also how my father lost his medical license and the reason why we had to migrate to Sweetzerland." "Damn, I had no idea that your father was basically a real-world Frankenhoof." commented a new voice in the tent. The ponies in the tent turned their head towards the entrance, and saw that it was Sunset Shimmer who spoke up. Crystal Tender waved at her, "Oh! Hi, Sunset! I heard from Dusky Sight here that General Winds asked you to meet him in his tent. How was it? Wait, don't tell me," -a teasing grin came on her face- "did you both have a fun time? Some naughty things in the tent, eh?~" Sunset Shimmer looked on with slight disgust, "W-Wha...? Not like that, moron. He wants to assign us on a scouting mission." That caught her friend's attention. "Wait, what? But, doesn't he don't know that I just got some nasty cut on my leg?" suddenly said Thunder Spark. "Oh, come on! Just get some some regeneration potions and you will be fine. Besides, you still have your wings to go around, genius." Sunset remarked. "I've already covered your wounds anyways, Thunder Spark, so I guess it'll work." said Crystal Tender. "I guess?" he wasn't convinced. "Bah, don't be a foal, Thunder Spark." -Crystal Tender grabbed a potion near her- "Here, if my medical skills aren't enough to convince you, just take this." He looked at the potion, then at Crystal, then back at the potion, and then back to a smiling Crystal, and he looked back at the potion, and reluctantly took it. "Buck... this better taste good." muttered Thunder Spark. "By the way, I want to remind you all that on this mission, we will NOT engage the enemy. We are to only monitor the path and scout enemy positions to prevent the legion from walking down into a trap again." Sunset turned her attention to Flower Jade- "I'm talking to you, Jade." "Aww..." Flower Jade said dejectedly. "All right, everypony! We got twenty minutes to get ready for the mission. Pack your things and get your weapons ready." -she looked at the ponies that were not her team, and pointed at them- "Except for you guys. You guys stay put, this was meant for my team." she received several nods from the unknown ponies. Her friends exited out of the tent, and went to prepare their things. They started with food and water, then medicine, and finally, weapons and needed equipment. They made sure to not forget anything before going on their very first scouting mission. After fifteen minutes of packing, they were ready for mostly anything. Sunset took her squad to the general's tent, and reported to him that she and her team were ready to be deployed on any scouting mission given to them. Satisfied, General Winds told them his plan. He explains to the team that they will be deployed to monitor the path between the 212th Legion, and the enemy capital, Bagshdad, and report any suspicious activity they spot. They were also tasked to secure several Magic Crystal wells, and explains to them that once the 212th Legion has finished resupplying and evacuating the dead and gravely wounded, he wants to quickly eliminate all remaining rebel forces, securing all the Magic Crystal wells and head straight for the enemy capital to end this rebellion once and for all. After learning what their mission is, Sunset and her squad give a military salute to the general, and left the tent. Before they set off to their mission, Sunset ordered her friends to double check their equipment to make sure they didn't have anything left behind. After they made sure all the equipment was in place, they started marching towards the desert, leaving behind the 212th Legion, and leaving behind their general safety. =///An hour and a half later, twenty-two kilometers from Bagshdad, 1630 hours\\\= Under the scorching heat of Celestia's sun, there are six ponies walking in the desert. They all trudged on, despite the conditions, and kept their eyes focused on the desert horizon. Everything was silent, everything was still. Sunset Shimmer took out a map and compass from her saddle bag and double-checked their travel path to make sure they didn't go the wrong direction. After making sure that they were on the right track, Sunset returned the map and compass back to her saddle bag and closed it up. She made a quick recap of everything that had happened today. She thought back to her first battle, she brutally took somepony's life with her magic. The look of horror on the rebel's face as he was about to be blown up by her magic made her shudder. She didn't like taking somepony's life, but it was a necessary thing to do, right? She began to recollect her memories even more, starting from Flower Jade's sadistic smile as she smashed somepony head into smush, and to the sickening splat made by the war elephants when it got hit by two-tons of rock launched by an enemy Trebuchet. All of these memories sent shivers down Sunset's spine, but instead of making her disgusted and making her want to leave military life as quickly as possible, it's the... opposite. Deep down, despite herself not wanting to take somepony's life, she wanted more. She wanted to see the carnage again, to see the chaos around her. Besides, the rebels got what they deserved anyways. In fact, she would gladly kill Seeddam Hayssein herself and keep his head as a trophy and also as a punishment for all those who try to secede from United Kingdom Equestria. She shook her head, 'Stop thinking such barbaric thoughts...' she thought to herself. Despite warning herself, her thoughts continued on. Ponykind cannot be allowed to separate in the form of different countries just only for of some pathetic reasons such as democracy, republicanism, authoritarian, autocracy, or all those other... forms of government. They must all live under one nation to ensure that their species remain strong, to remain united for one cause. The existence of the independent Crystal Empire was already problematic enough, let alone this pathetic excuse of a republic. Sunset shook her head again, this time more furiously than last, 'Jeez Sunset, enough of this!' "Sunset, you good?" a voice asked beside her. Sunset turned to look, and saw that it was Emerald Ace. "Yeah, I'm alright, thanks for asking. It's just the heat getting to me." she lied. Emerald Ace nodded in acknowledgement, "Yeah, it is pretty hot. Pretty hot for a city pony that is." he joked. Sunset rolled her eyes in a friendly way, "Hardy-har-har, Emerald Ace, just keep moving or I'll assign you to a boring task when we make it back to the FOB." Emerald Ace chuckled and backed off, "No need to tell me twice, ma'am." The group continued walking for a few minutes, taking in the environment around them. There wasn't much to look at, so most of the time, they were looking for anything out of the ordinary. A few steps later, Dusky Sight paused, pointed towards something, and spoke up, "Everypony, hold on! I think I saw some kind of structure in the distance." The team turned their eyes towards the horizon Dusky pointed at, but unfortunately, they didn't spot anything. All they saw was, once again, the boring desert horizon. "I don't see shit." commented Thunder Spark. "You... don't see it? How co-" -her eyes widen as realization sets in- "Ah... I forgot you guys aren't Lunar Pegasi, whoops. I guess my eyesight is more capable than yours." "I-Is that an insult?" asked Thunder Spark. "Nope, just facts my friend." Dusky Sight responded with a grin. Sunset took her binoculars out from her saddle bag and started looking for whatever Dusky saw. To her surprise, she found something. "I see it, it's some kind of village. But, why does is it look destroyed?" she asked in ignorance. It took her some seconds to realize it, and when she did, her eyes suddenly widened like saucers as realization slammed into Sunset like a train. She enhanced her binoculars to look closer into the destruction, and she saw burned figures lying all over the village. Unbeknownst to the recon team, the rebels had just carried out a scorched earth policy an hour earlier. Sunset ordered her team to advance toward the structures to check for any survivors, but unfortunately for Sunset Shimmer and her friends, they were too late. =///Unknown village, Twenty-one kilometers from Bagshdad, 1700 hours\\\= When they arrived at the village, they found dozens of charred pony corpses lying on the ground. The bodies ranged from a variety of pony species and ages. From the stallions, mares, the elderly, and even the foals, no one was spared. Almost all the buildings in the village had been razed to the ground, only a few stone structures can be seen still standing. A mixture of sadness, anger, and frustration began to grow on Sunset's squad. "W-Why are they doing this? They are just unarmed civilians for Faust's sake!" Crystal Tender cried out. "This... was a scorched earth policy. They destroyed all structures and any settlements they could find to prevent it from falling into enemy hooves. They didn't want the settlement to supply us so they resorted to this." Sunset Shimmer replied. "But we already have enough of our own supplies to last more than a month! Why in the name of Luna do they think we're going to the village for supplies?" Thunder Spark asked. Sunset Shimmer sighed for she didn't know the answer, "I don't know, Thunder Spark. This action was really stupid for their side." Sunset answered back. Dusky Sight stomped her hoof, "This is totally a war crime! Did they not know of the Geneighva Conventions?!" Dusky Sight said angrily. "Oh, they totally knew of the Geneighva Conventions, but they turned it into a checklist by the looks of it..." Sunset answered. "That's bucked up..." muttered Thunder Spark. Sunset chuckled darkly, "Well, we'd better get used to it because I’m certain that this village is neither the first, or the last to suffer the same fate." Before any words can be said in the group, Flower Jade's screams pierced the air. "GUYS! YOU MIGHT WANT TO SEE THIS!" Having heard Flower Jade's call, the team quickly dashed to her direction. After weaving through bodies and rubble, they found her standing at the edge of the village staring out into desert. "Jade, you got something to tell us?" Sunset asked. Flower Jade turned towards Sunset as the rest began to arrive, "More of a show than tell, Sunset, just look." -she pointed her hoof south-west from the village- "Quite a lot of smoke, eh?" The ponies turned their heads in the direction Jade was pointing and saw smoke rising into the sky. Sunset could've sworn that she could hear faint explosions in the distance. Sunset took the binoculars from her saddle bag and tried to take a better view of the origin of the black smoke. Once she did though, she was shocked. "Oh my Faust... they burnt the Magic Crystal Wells Field!" They all gasped in horror. Securing the Magic Crystal Wells is, or was, one of their main objectives in the operation, and they failed to prevent it from being destroyed by rebel forces. Realistically, Sunset and her friends wouldn't have been able to defend all of the crystal wells, but they were still new to this, how would they have known? "Flower Jade, update the main forces. Tell them that the Magic Crystal Wells have been destroyed." "Yes, ma'am." replied Flower Jade. As Flower Jade updated the main force, Emerald Ace spoke up, "What now, Sunset?" Sunset turned towards Emerald Ace and spoke, "We continue our mission." (Author's note : This part of the story will try to mimic the phenomenon that many people call 'Oil Rain', during the Gulf war, Iraqi forces burned down Kuwait's oil wells which makes the battlefield basically look like hell for American marines.) =///Crystal wells fields, Twenty kilometers from Bagshdad, 1730 hours \\\= Sunset and her squad made their way across the desert towards the source of the fire. Compared to the supposedly hot air they had felt when they crossed the desert before, the desert air was chilly, too chilly. Sunset and her friends started to shiver, and attempted to heat themselves off by moving faster. Well, everyone shivered except for Crystal Tender. She actually enjoyed the sudden cold weather, so despite the recent events, she made fun of her shivering friends. The sky was getting dark, and the only source of light they could rely on was the burning source of the Magic Crystal wells. The flames weren't the common yellow-red flame, but instead instead it was a purplish-blue color flame. If one were to look at the chaos, they would say the earth was bleeding. Things only got worse when the crystal dust that was previously blown into the air started to rain down onto the ground. These little bastards raining onto the ground weren't harmless. In fact, they actually cause pain. The crystal dust has microscopic sharp edges and continuous contact or inhalation of these particles can result with injuries and bleeding of internal organs. The dust can also cause severe eye injuries if exposed for too long. Fortunately, Sunset and her team brought gear like masks and goggles to prevent exposure to crystal dust. Unfortunately, it's not completely impermeable. "Ah shit... it's stinging my eyes... my eyes are burning... oh wait, SHIT, OH BUCK! BUCK, IT'S IN MY EYE, I CAN'T SEE! SWEET CELESTIA, IT'S BURNING! IT'S BURNING!" Emerald Ace screamed in pain. "Jade, give me some water." Crystal Tender ordered calmly. "Here ya go, Tender." said Flower Jade as she gave a bottle of water. Crystal Tender grabbed the bottle, "Much appreciated." "OH BUCK! IT'S REALLY BEGINNING TO HURT!" Emerald Ace was continuously screaming in pain. "HEY! HEY! Calm down! What are you doing? You're freaking out too much! Just calm down!" Dusky Sight tried to calm down Emerald Ace, but it didn't work. Instead, he attempted to rub his eyes. Crystal Tender saw this and immediately grabbed his hoof to stop it, "Wait, wait, don't rub your eyes. It needs to be cleaned first you dumbass." Crystal Tender warned Emerald Ace, which he listened, though he still was screaming. "AhH! P-PlEaSe heLp me..." Emerald Ace's voice started to crack. "Listen to me, just take a deep breath and close your eyes, okay?" Crystal Tender said gently to him. Emerald Ace nodded and Crystal Tender then splashed water on his eyes, and started to clean it with a towel, she then gave him a regeneration potion to heal the damage caused by the crystal dust in his eyes. "Alright, there you go, you want me to wipe your ass now?~" said Crystal Tender suggestively and jokingly, while he was looking at him drying himself from water splash. "Wait, really?" Emerald asked, confused. "Nah, i'm actually into mare, maybe you'll have better luck with other mares, now put your goggles back on!!" Crystal Tender answered brutally, destroying Emerald’s mood. "Awww..." Emerald said disappointedly. Emerald Ace then took back his goggles and started wearing it again, he then stood up and cleaned his elbows of the sand. "Ahh, now you are good to go." said Crystal Tender. "Thank you Tender." Emerald said gratefully to her, which caused her to smile. "Hey, Listen up! The wind's changed, we're moving out of this shit, let's move!" Sunset Shimmer ordered. "This whole campaign is absolute horseshit, we don't get paid enough to deal with this." Dusky Sight muttered. =///A couple minutes of walking later, 1800 hours\\\= After walking out of the Magic Crystal wells field, Sunset's shifted her gaze to the sky, she realized that the sun began to set over the horizon and the moon began to rise into the sky and started shining on the stained surface. Because of this she and her team decided to take a few minutes off from their journey, they started to grab their lunch and drink from their saddle bags, and started to enjoy their downtime. For the next few minutes, the atmosphere felt really gloomy and quite, the only sound that could be hear was the sound of burning wood from the small camp fire they had built, maybe because the fact that they had just passed through the village that was full of corpses and being rained on by deadly crystal dust. Hence, Flower Jade and Crystal Tender started trying to cheer up. "Hi Everypony!, welcome back to random facts Crystal Tender! Today with me is Flower Jade~" Crystal Tender said energetically. All the ponies then shifted their gaze to the Flower Jade who were sitting on a pile of sand. "Did you know your asshole can spread up to eight inches wide therefore a raccoon can fit in your ass?~" Jade said in relaxed tone. All the ponies in the squad started spitting up their food and drinks and started laughing out loud uncontrollably to the fact they had been just exposed to. PFFTTT....BAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA..... "Pffttt....*Loud laugh* what the buck Jade?!, Where did you learn that?? You did this to yourself?? bahahahah..." Sunset Shimmer said, barely catching breath from laughing. "i cAn fIT a wHolE jAr oF jELlybEaNs uP mAh aSs..." Thunder Spark's said nonchalantly. "*Loud Laugh*...i wasn't bucking ready Luna damn it! *Cough* *Cough*..." Dusky Sight said and then Laugh uncontrollably. "But it's true, raccoons can get into holes four inches wide..." Jade said. All the ponies in the squad started laughing out loud even louder than before, they started throwing jokes of their own, starting from the fact that all markets in Africolt is a black markets to mama mia papariza pineapple pizza rolls. "Stop.. please stop...i can't take it anymore..." Dusky Sight said, barely being able to breathe from all the laughing, that their jokes caused. "You know, there is strange comfort in knowing that no matter what happens today, the Sun will rise again tomorrow." Sunset's said after she finished laughing. "You are bucking right Sunset, no matter how buck up things get, as long as we stay whole together, we can always enjoy the day of tomorrow." Thunder Spark answered, slightly smiling. "*Chuckles*...You know what?, if this is going to be my life from now on, I'd love to keep it going forever." With those simple words, Sunset essentially sealed her destiny and changed the course of Equestrian history forever. =///Meanwhile , Canterlot, the same time\\\= In one of the towers of her castle Canterlot there is Celestia sitting in her private chamber relaxed, in front of her is a magical Snow globe, this snow globe is a special magical device she create from long forgotten magic is capable to monitor specific ponies without thier knowing, not only is it able to monitor them visually, this object also provides audio sound as well so she can listen to whatever is being said. She had been monitoring her daughter for almost twelve hours, from the moment she set her hoof on FOB, her heroic actions in saving Legion from ambush, into her finally finding a comfort in the most stressful enviroment. Tears of joy started to roll down to her chin the moment she heard what Sunset's said that she would love to dedicate her life to defending Equestria forever, because that all Celestia needed to know that her daughter is finally proven that she was worthy for Alicornhood. All she needs to do is make a final push to break the barrier between the amaterium and immaterium realm to bring her to a higher dimensions, where she will meet her there and personally watched her finally receive her immortality. =///Five kilometers from the capital Bagshdad, 2000 hours After finishing thier food and drink Sunset's and her squad rested for twenty minutes before finally walking back, the sky was starting to clear and the moonlight could finally be seen again. Even so the desert land still looked really dark and they had to rely on Dusky Sight who have nocturnal eyes to navigate the desert. At least the current state of affairs was somewhat better than before, Jade had basically managed to improve the mood of everyone in the team. They kept walking for nearly two hours, when Dusky suddenly signal them to stopped. "What's up Dusky, did you spotted something?" Sunset ask. "Yes, at 1 o'clock" She answered Sunset then took her binoculars from her bag to confirm what Dusky said, at first she didn't find anything, it was until she saw some kind of faint light from a torch in the distance. Knowing that it was most likely an enemy, Sunset's ordered her team to start being vigilant, she also asked them to try to walk as stealthily as possible while they were trying to approach the enemy. After listening to her orders the team started walking again, they walked slowly and tried to limit their profile as little as possible, by the time they finally approached barely a few hundred meters from the enemy they were shocked by what they saw. Rebel troops, a LOT of them, they number nearly six thousand ponies, Sunset's assumed they were trying to put all their remaning eggs into one basket and hoped it would change the course of the war, they also found what appeared to be civilians employed by the military to dig trenches and pull Trebuchet into defensive position. They didn't know if the civilians were volunteers who offering their labor to set up the defense line or the rebels coercively conscripted civilians into doing their dirty work. They all hope the civilians are volunteers. Sunset's orders Jade to contact the Commanding General and inform him of what they have found, Jade then took his radio and then contacted the central command. After a few minutes inform their discovery, Sunset's and her team were ordered to retreat one kilometer from the enemy's position to prevent them from being detected and also to regroup with the Legion currently on their way to their positions. Sunset's followed his orders and ordered her team to start retreating at least one kilometer from the enemy's position. After that all they needed to do was wait, wait for the Legion to finally catch up to their position. Due to the destruction of the Magic Crystal wells, Equestrian's military decide to changed their objective, they will plan to destroy the rest of the rebel forces in one battle and then walk straight into the capital and end this rebellion once and for all. =///Six kilometers from Baghdad, 2225 hours\\\= After waiting for over two hours, the 212th Legion finally caught up with Sunset's and her SR-034 Vanguard Recon team, Sunset's then told where the position of the enemy's defense lines and other important information, the commander-in-chief was very pleased with this information and tried to exploit it to the fullest extent possible. He then ordered all the Equestrian troops in his Legion to quickly reorganize and form an attack formation, they also slowly moved to flanking the enemy's defense line from the right where Sunset's and her team found it's was the weakest part of thier defense line because the trench and defensive weapons were still not fully completed yet. After the troops were in position and ready to attack, General Commander Wind's then, without further ado, immediately ordered the unicorns troops to launch magical attack into the enemy lines, after hearing this all the unicorns in the Legion including Sunset's also then massing magical energy into their horns and then launch the 'WHAT'S UP BUCKERS!!!' spell at the enemy. KÅ BÖŌM The large explosion immediately swallowed up the rebel troops and destroyed many of their heavy defensive weapons in the area, they were caught essentially caught off guard and many of their troops that survived the Equestrian troops attacks by immediately started to abandoning their positions. Not wanting to give the rebel forces time to recover and try to retreat again the commander general then ordered his troops to immediately chargeing towards the enemy lines. "CHARGE!!! FOR EQUESTRIA!!!" "FOR EQUESTRIA!!!" Everypony in the Legion shouted in unison Immediately all of the 212th Legion troops rushed over and started killing all rebel troops that tried to resist them. Sunset and her friends also started to kill the enemies one by one, Everypony were basically fighting for their lives, everypony except Flower Jade who was probably enjoying herself too much at this time. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 If you're happy and you know it clap your hoofs~ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 *SMASH TORSO* 𝅘𝅥𝅮 If you're happy and you know it clap your hoofs~ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 *ORGANS SPLAT* 𝅘𝅥𝅮 If you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it~ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 *SKULL CRACK* 𝅘𝅥𝅮 If you're happy and you know it clap your hoofs~!!! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 *BONES SNAP* Flower Jade continued to slaughter the rebel troops one by one without mercy, she continued singing her song while having a sadistic smile on his face and laughing watching her enemy try to run away from her. "OH MY FAUST'S!!, Is it really necessary?" Emerald Ace asked, kinda irritated by Flower Jade’s singing. "Yess~..." Flower Jade said to Emerald, while smiling sadistically. "B-but-- Emerald said, but was stopped by Flower. "Heads up!~" Flower Jade said before throwing her war hammer at Emerald which he barely managed to dodge. "SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK JADE??!!" Emerald asked, furious. "What?, I just saved you~" Jade answered nonchalantly. "Wait, what?" Emerald confused. Emerald then looked back and found the body of the rebel soldier lying with his skull destroyed and brain matter is littered the ground after being hit by Jade's warhammer, what was most terrifying was that the rebel soldier body still seemed to be convulsing even though its owner had gone to Valhalla. This makes Emerald throw up his dinner, seeing someone else's skull crushed up close makes him faint in the middle of the battlefield, seeing one of their friends pass out, Crystal Tender, Sunset and the rest of the team then try to help Emerald. "I don't think I'll be able to maintain my sanity anymore after seeing that..." Dusky said "We won't, I assure you that." Crystal Tender answered "Please focus back on your job for Faust's sake, we can talk about this after all this is over, Okay?" Sunset said. Meanwhile Sunset and her friends try to help Crystal Tender treat Emerald Ace who has passed out, while Flower Jade tried to take her warhammer which was stuck in the skull of the unlucky rebel soldier, but because the throw was too hard the warhammer got stuck and it became difficult for her to retrieve her weapon from the enemy body. Seeing their enemy in a vulnerable position their nearby rebel forces took advantage and launched an attack on her, one of them was a battle mage, the enemy battle mage then quickly launched an explosive magic attack which then exploded near Jade. Caught unprepared, Flower Jade was thrown several meters off the ground and landed not far from Sunset's. "JADE, NOOO!!" Sunset's screamed. Seeing her other comrades being hit by Sunset's enemy magic attacks quickly acted, she then immediately moved her gaze towards the enemy battle mage who was attacking her friend, she also saw how quickly he threw the Spell 'BUCK YOU BLAST' into the enemy, but somehow he managed to dodge it. Seeing her enemy dodge it, Sunset launched attacks again and again, but the enemy's battle mage is continuous, this shows that he is really experienced in magical fights. The enemy then launched a magical attack of its own at Sunset's, which was immediately stopped by her shield. The battle between Sunset's and the enemy Battle mage lasted for several minutes, where neither of them could get the upper hand. This annoyed Sunset's, the first is that these rebels had betray Equestria, secondly he hurt one of her friends, and the third, she dodged all of her attacks like average Flowerida pony (Equis version of Florida man). She is here watching all of this carnage is to defend/keeping the United Kingdom of Equestria intact, she is here watching Jade psychopathic behavior is to defend her friends, she is here fight for her life is to defend her destiny. Anger started to build up in Sunset's body, and that anger start to turned into hatred, and that hatred began to accumulate and become raw fury. Sunset's rage made her begin to gather immense magical energy that buried deep in her body magical core and the natural surroundings, as Unicorn Flare, Sunset's basically has a magical core on the same level as Alicorn. She could feel that magic was overvlowing through her hair which made it start to move as if in a gust of wind and her eyes started to shine brightly. She also began to float into the air as high as several meters from the ground while she was accumulating an enormous amount of magical energy, Sunset's could feel magic energy starting to fill her body, she had to quickly release it because otherwise it could be fatal for her. Seeing this, the rebel forces began trying to escape as far as possible from Sunset's position, but unfortunately for them, it was too late. With a blinding explosion of light, Sunset's then launched all her magic energy towards the rebel troops, she let out a loud scream as she release all of her magical energy towards the enemy at once. The giant beam of hot plasma began to hit the position of the rebel troops who were trying to escape, all the ponies in the Legion swear they can hear enemy soldier screams of pain as their bodies are evaporated by Sunset's magic, in the end Sunset's basically achieved ultimate MVP for this battle as she essentially took the lives of over a thousand rebel troops who trying to escape with one blast. But unfortunately, before they could celebrate their victory, a huge explosion that produced a blinding light tore the fabric between space and time happen right above them, after the Legion and Sunset friends recovered from the explosion, Sunsetwho should have been floating in the air above them has mysteriously vanished. =///?????????, ???? Hours\\\= In a boundless multi-dimensional place filled with mist and Sparkling star Sunset Shimmer slowly opened her eyes, she immediately realized that she was no longer on Equis, panic quickly engulfed Sunset's mind. "w-where am I?, What is this place?! D-did I die?' Is this a place, that all the dead ponies go?" She then tried to look around her to find a way out, trying to reject the possibility, that she died in the middle of the battle. "No, this can't be happening!!!" Sunset's also tried to run, he kept running and hoped he would suddenly return back to the real world. "*Sobs* please… I don't want to end… not like this… *sobs*" Just as she was begun to lose hope Sunset suddenly heard a voice, a voice that was familiar to her ears because she had heard it for decades. "Fear not my little daughter, you are not dead yet." "Mom?, Is that you?" "One and the only, and congratulation Sunset, I knew you could do it." "I don't understand, what did I do?, and what is this place?" "You did something incredible, someting that even a great Flare unicorn like Star Swirl the Bearded was not able to do, because he did not understand how to properly utilize his magical core to break the barrier between the two realm." "Your Magical and Military lesson you learn in Canterlot and Fort Benneighing have taught you well, you have proven that you're ready Sunset." Celestia continued. "Ready?, Ready for what?" Quickly a magical panel that shows Sunset's Shimmer's memory starts to appear, starting from the memory of where she was born into the world, the tragedy of the Airship accident that taken the lives of both of her parents, torture and immoral experiments carried out by Neo-Neighzi Scientists, the time when Celestia finally saved her and decided to adopt her as her own daughter, memories where she enjoyed her life within the walls of Canterlot castle, her military training experience with her friends at Fort Benneighing, to her combat experience in the Operation Desert Shield. "You've come such a long, long way, and i've watching you from that very first day~" "To see how you might grow, to see how you might do, to see what you've been through, and all the ways you've made me proud of you, it's is time now~" "For a new change to come you've grown up and your new life has begun, to go where you go see what you will see, to find what you will be, for it's time for you fulfill your destiny~" A cyan-coloured magical aura emerged from Sunset's body and began to rapidly circle around her body at a fast speed, Sunset's body started to slowly lift into the air and her body started to be enveloped by a bright bubble of light, and with sparks of light multiple rays of blinding White-Cyan light engulfed Sunset's then sent her back to the materium realm. =///On the outskirts of Baghdad, 2300 Hours\\\= After the destruction of the last line of defense the rebel forces were crushed by the Equestrian forces. The 212th Legion then easily reached the gates of the capital city of Bagshdad, realizing that there was no hope of driving back the central government troops, the government of the Republic of Iraqquus surrendered. All the ponies in the 212th Legion celebrate their victory, several tens of ponies from the Legion started building fireplaces and tents around the city outskirts and then started a party to celebrate their victory, everyone except the member of SR-034 Vanguard team's, they were all grieving the loss of their team leader who 'died' almost an hour ago. Their moods continued to be sad, especially Dusky Sight who had spent the past few minutes crying incessantly, because he didn't have time to confess his feelings to Sunset before, for him she wasn't just a friend or an ordinary colleague, but rather someone he had feelings for, he prays to Faust's to at least give him a chance to confess his feelings to her. Luckily for Dusky, her request was granted when somekind of bright flash of light suddenly appeared above them and slowly began to descend to the ground, and with a small light burst, Sunset's Shimmer sunddely appears with her new wings wide open, showing all of its glory. Everyone in the camp suddenly stopped partying, they all then gasp and their jaws dropped to the ground, because somepony who supposedly should have died in the middle of battle just an hour ago just somehow got reincarnated as an Alicorn, that's not something you can witness everyday. The situation quick turn into awkward slience because no one dared to say something about it, so Dusky Sight decided to broke the silence. "SUNSET!!!" Dusky screamed. Dusky then quickly ran to Sunset's and hugged her tightly, she also simultaneously gave her a kiss on the lips which instantly made Sunset blushing red. All of her other friends also started to follow and join in the hug, even Flower Jade, who had a broken hind leg due to the enemy's magical attacks also did not want to be left behind, she basically owed her life to her because without the help of Sunset's, the enemy battle mage would be able to immediately finish her off. "Please don't mysteriously disappear like that again, we're really worried about you." Dusky Sight said "Bahaha, Sunset got wings!!, this is awesome new flying buddy!" Thunder Spark's "You've become an Alicorn, i don't even know that was possible?! Emerald Ace said, in complete shock. "ALICORNNN...OH MY GODNESS!!!~" Flower Jade said. "Oh wow, you just like a princess!" Crystal Tender said. "That because she is." Celestia suddenly said. Suddenly princess Celestia slowly descended from the sky, all the ponies who were in the camp and including her friends gasp and quickly knelt down to welcome the arrival of the Solar Godness. Things got even more surprising when Sunset's started talking to Celestia. "Mommy!" All the ponies suddenly turned their heads back to Princess and Sunset's Shimmer, Sunset's quickly embraced her mother with her arms and her mother used her wings, this made everypony in the camp extremely surprised, princess Celestia never announced that she had a daughter, no one has ever suspected this possibility. "Wait, WHAT??!, Princess Celestia is your mother??!" Dusky ask "Hehe well, not biologically, she adopted me when i was little" Sunset's answered, slightly embarrassed of this question. "But Sunset's, why you never told us this?!" Crystal Tender ask. "I was the one who told him not to tell anyone that I adopted him, it's was for...security measures." Celestia replied . Several 'Ohh...' came from all ponies in the camp, there were just under a hundred of them, few enough to be able to keep the secret a little longer public for the foreseeable future. "Sunset, you are inspiration to all of us, you have proved your dynamism, intelligence, bravery and courage to be worthy of Alicornhood, from now on you will be remebered as Princess Sunset's Shimmer, The Alicorn of Defense." =///Few days later, Equestrian Forward Operating Base (FOB), reused Bagshdad International Airport, 0800 hours \\\= At the Baghdad International Airport which is now being used as a temporary military FOB Equestrian, there are hundreds of troops from the 212th Legian lining up to go aboard the military Airship. After the defeat of the Republic of Iraqquus against the 212th Equestrian Legion, their military is starting to be demobilized and all the troops that joined the fight will be sent back home and their post will be refilled with the 157th Legion from the Neighgeria province to maintain peace and at the same time prevent another rebelion. In one of the queues to Airship EAS Dan Dienggo there is Sunset's Shimmer and his friends, they will be demobilized and will be given a four month vacation from military service for their service in this operation. Sunset's body was completely covered by ton of bandage by Crystal Tender to cover her wings from the other legionaries because princess Celestia ordered it to be kept secret for a while, she says she must keep this crucial Information from the public until the time of Emergency where Equestria will need her Alicornhood to be revealed. Sunset of course was really disappointed by this and started asking why other Alicorns like Cadance weren't treated like that, Celestia answers because Sunset's is so important in her 'ultimate plan' to keep the United Kingdom of Equestria going, and she wants Equestria to at least have the last Trump card in case all of their leaders are incapacitated. With this explanation, Sunset finally understood and promised to keep this secret as long as possible until an time of emergency. Celestia also ordered all the ponies in the camp to swear not to tell anypony about this incident. ... While they were waiting on the airport tarmacs, Thunder Spark's sunddely started to speak. "We finally here, this fucked up rodeo is over, we're going home! Haha." "Yeah, it's really been a wild ride, it's a shame we won't have something like this again for the foreseeable future." Flower Jade "Wait, do you think something like this will happened again?" Dusky ask "Likely not, Seeddam Hayssein and his cronies were outliers, i don't think we will have another full-fledged rebellion like this anymore, at least not in our lifetime." Thunder Spark's said "Yeah, our lifetime." Sunset's whispered sadly because now she going to watch all her friends slowly die from old age. After they started boarding the Airship the ponies who were lining up started singing songs, it's that always being singing by the legions when they coming home after their the war is over, where they will get the warm welcome they all deserve. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 When Legion comes marching home again, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 We'll give them a hearty welcome then, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 The mares will cheer, the stalions will shout, The friends, they will all turn out, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 And we'll all feel content when the Legion comes marching home. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮The old temple bell will peal with joy, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 To welcome home our beloved friends, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 The village mares and lassies say, With roses they will strew the way, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 And we'll all feel content when the Legion comes marching home. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 Get ready for the Jubilee, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 We'll give the hero three times three, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 The Laurel Faust's wreath is ready now To place upon her loyal brow, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 And we'll all feel content when the Legion comes marching home. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 Let love and friendship on that day, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 Their choicest treasures then display, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 And let each one perform some part, To fill with joy the warrior's heart, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 And we'll all feel content when the Legion comes marching home. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 When Legion comes marching home again, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 We'll give them a hearty welcome then, Hurrah, hurrah! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 The mares will cheer, the stalions will shout, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 The friend, they will all turn out, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 And we'll all feel content when the Legion comes marching home. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 > Changeling Problem (Part 1) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =///Back to present time, Austaillia, 1100 hours\\\= Under Austaillia's scorching heat lies a small wooden house. If one were to look at it, it was a normal wooden house. Nothing out of the ordinary or anything like that. But, if one were to focus on who owns the home, they would be in for a pleasant surprise. This generic wooden house was home to one of Equestria's most powerful Alicorns, Sunset Shimmer, the Princess of Defense. Inside, she sat on her soft sofa while enjoying her daily cup of coffee. Things at the time were calm because today was her day off. She had been through all kinds of things, starting from the eradication of rebels in Central Coltlombia, the Lunar schism, and to the REAF invasion of Afghaneighstan to fight against the Griffon terrorist organization called the Talonban (Equus version of the Taliban). One of her best achievements is the prevention of an attack that occurred six years ago where nineteen members of the Griffonian Empire terrorist organization named 'Al-Aquileia' hijacked several airships and intended to crash them into the ETC (Equestrian Trade Center) Tower in Manehattan. =///Six years ago, Manehattan Sky, 1000 hours\\\= More than a thousand feet above Manehattan, an Equestrian Airlines Beeoing 767 type passenger airship soars the skies above. Its destination previously was supposed to be somewhere in the desert, but alas, that was not the case. Fear enveloped the airship as hijackers took control of the airship hours prior, and were now making its way towards one of the famous skyscrapers of the Manehattan skyline. Distress calls had been sent before the hijackers took over, but the Equestrian military couldn’t simply shoot the airship down due to the hundreds of innocent souls on board. Luckily, since the airship was only capable of flying at a maximum speed of 135 km/h (84 mph), the Neigh York provincial government had enough time to evacuate the civilians out of the city and to notify the Equestrian central government in Canterlot about the developing situation. Attempted negotiations with the terrorists resulted in failure, and under Princess Celestia’s direct orders, they had no other choice but to authorize the deployment of a special individual to take back the airship. That certain individual would be deployed as one of the members of the SR-034 Scout Team or now being renamed as the SF-034 Task Force. After being briefed on the situation, Commander Sunset Shimmer sets her mind on the airship and using her special Alicorn magic, Sunset Shimmer manages to teleport herself to the airship to regain full control before it’s too late. =///Airship cockpit\\\= "My Lord, we finally got a visual of the tower." one of the terrorists said. "Excellent work, brother. We finally made it and we can get our revenge on the Equestrian heathens!" Lord Ashes BoneLadanen said. The terrorist griffons aboard the airship cheered with joy as their objective would soon be achieved. The hostages on the other hand began to cry, fearing for their lives as they heard the cheers of the hijackers. As the hijackers celebrated, Sunset Shimmer sneakily hid on the ceiling of the airship while monitoring her targets. Since she is now an Alicorn, she is sure to be able to take them down without any trouble. She also wore special armor made of enchanted titanium and armed with a Cassiterite sword, so that's a bonus. Sensing the time was right, Sunset dramatically dropped down from the ceiling and landed with a mighty thud. "Hello there." the young alicorn smirked. The terrorists and the passengers turned their attention to Sunset, expressions filled with either surprise or fear since not only did a pony appear out of nowhere, but said pony was an alicorn. Lord Ashes BoneLadanen chuckled. "Commander Sunset Shimmer, you are a bold one!"  "Funny… you said the exact same thing the last time we met in the caverns in Afghaneighstan." Sunset responded indifferently. Immediately after her sentence, the terrorists on the airship drew out whatever weapons they had on Sunset. Sunset looked at them with a raised brow, she certainly wasn't intimidated at all.  Lord Ashes turned and growled at his inferiors. "Back away you fools!” he returned his attention towards Sunset. ”I will deal with this Alicorn scum myself…"  The terrorists lowered their weapons and withdrew a few meters. Both the terrorists and the passengers held hostage looked at the two beings that stared each other down, one being an Alicorn and the other being the leader of the hijacking. The atmosphere around them began to grow heavy as both beings circled each other cautiously. "Your move." Sunset said with a grin Lord Ashes chuckled arrogantly. "Big mistake, equine, I have trained myself swordshorseship for decades!" Lord Ashes whipped out two of his swords and pointed each of them at Sunset. He began spinning his swords in a quick fashion, mimicking that of an airship propeller. It may have seemed impractical, but he was determined to kill her. In his mind, he believed that he was able to defeat her in an honorable melee combat. He has spent decades perfecting his swordshorseship, taking out multiple skilled enemies as if they were children. Unfortunately for him, Sunset wasn't in the mood for a slow, honorable battle.  She wanted to get over this quickly and go back to relaxing in her apartment with Dusky Sight to enjoy some free time. After a moment of thinking, she decided to simply obliterate him, literally. Sunset Shimmer ignited her horn and fired an overcharged explosive spell at him. Within a blink of an eye, where once the two meter griffon stood, his organs, bones and blood were splattered across the cabin, leaving only his two swords on the ground unscathed. “Huh… I wonder why I even let him live the first time round…” Sunset muttered to herself. The terrorists froze in fear by what they had just witnessed. Their boss, their leader, reduced to atoms on a level of violence never seen before in their lives. Seeing her enemies off guard, Sunset quickly took the opportunity to kill them all. She maneuvered towards one of the terrorists before decapitating him. The others, try as they might, were no match to Sunset’s combat prowess. One by one, they all fell to the Alicorn’s magic, their remains spread across the airship. Soon enough, the entire airship was cleared of the terrorists, only leaving the horrified passengers and crew members in the wake of the massacre. Sunset looked around herself as the realization hit her. ”Ooh… I may have overdone it a little bit…” 'Huh, what a time to be alive.' Sunset thought to herself as she sipped her drink once more, swirling the warm liquid in her mouth to maximize its flavor. Today was her day off and she wasn't going to let anything mess up her leisure time, even if it included the entire country being mysteriously teleported to another world, or the fact that a fleet of warships were docked at the port of Coltlombia filled with hairless bipedal monkeys. Setting those aside, everything was quiet and peaceful, just the way she likes it. Unfortunately for Sunset, the universe was an 'asshole and it didn't care about anyone's feelings, no matter their status or species. Ring Ring Ring! Startled, she accidentally dropped her coffee cup, spilling its contents onto the once clean floor. Argh… buck...' she groaned. Not bothering to clean up the mess on the floor, she turned to the phone near her and picked it up aggressively.  She raised her voice before she spoke, "WHAT?! I told everypony that I was tired and I don't want to be disturbed this week!" "Woah, calm down Sunset, it's me, Dusky Sight. I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but we have a problem." This piqued Sunset’s interest a tad bit, "What problem? If it's about Equestria getting teleported to another world, then respectfully, buck you. I already know this and I told you guys I'm no expert in Space-Dimensional problems! Honestly, that should be the job of Twilight and her blasted friends." Dusky Sight sighed. "For Faust’s sake… you still hold a grudge against her?" "Why the buck not?" Sunset replied nonchalantly. "Eh… nevermind, forget I asked. Back to the problem at hoof, yes, this is indeed about that teleportation problem, but it’s not what you think." Sunset straightened her back. "Oh really? So what’s it about then?" A silence took over for a couple seconds before Dusky Sight responded, her voice uncertain. "Erm… it’s about the changelings, Sunset. We have a changeling problem..." =///Six hours later, Canterlot train station, 1800 hours\\\= Sunset Shimmer got off the train car along with the hundreds of other ponies onboard. Thankfully, she masterfully hid her wings with a spell, so to anyone else, she seemed like a normal unicorn. She took a deep breath of fresh air as she finally arrived at her home city, Canterlot. After a very long time, she was finally able to see all of its famous tall towers and luxury buildings once more. She hadn’t visited her city for almost a decade, but even so, she was really happy to finally be able to visit her old home city.  Despite her… memories of the orphanage, her childhood with her adoptive mother overtook those dark memories. With the memories and nostalgia settling in, Sunset walked towards Canterlot Castle. Strangely, while walking towards the palace, the city seemed really quiet, almost like a ghost town. She was curious as to where everypony was, but unfortunately she didn't have time to investigate, she had other important things to do. =///Canterlot Castle Gate, 1800 hours\\\= Dusky Sight had never felt this frustrated in her life, even more so than the time she tried to solve a puzzle she found back in the barracks. One of the royal guards guarding Canterlot Castle would not allow them entry despite having provided their military identification papers. As of right now, Crystal Tender, Dusky Sight, Flower Jade, Thunder Spark, and Emerald Ace were waiting patiently in front of the gates. Well, most of them anyways. "What do you mean we can't enter? We showed you our military ID card, didn't we?” Crystal Tender said. The royal guard spoke calmly, "I am aware of the military ID cards you have shown me, but in the name of Prince Blueblood, nopony is allowed to enter Canterlot castle until said otherwise."  Crystal Tender groaned. "Ugh… he's not a prince, he's just an over glorified unicorn noble! I mean, he’s no way related to the princesses at all! Well, I don’t think so…" The royal guard raised a brow. “Well, it would appear you haven’t kept up with the UKE’s news for a while now, so I’ll update you on it. Prince Blueblood is the official prince of the United Kingdom of Equestria. He does have the title ‘prince’ after all. Doesn’t that mean anything?” “W-What? Alright, now hold on there, whatever-your-name-is, I’ll have you know that…” 'Haha, this is fun to watch…' Dusky Sight thought as she watched the two go back and forth. After all the Alicorn princesses (at least the ones that the public knows), went on a diplomatic mission to one of the human nations of this planet, the United Kingdom of Equestria is experiencing a total 'Power Vacuum'." For most of the UKE, this was not a big problem since the provincial governments of all provinces of the UKE are capable of maintaining the stability of their respective provinces without much trouble. But sadly, the same cannot be said for Canterlot. Canterlot is government special territory, a sort of provinceless limbo region that is under the direct rule of the Alicorn monarchs themselves, being the only city in Equestria without a mayor. So in short, with no Alicorns present, the city is now under total maretial law. With the declaration of maretial law, the governing in Canterlot fell into the hooves of the Canterlot Royal Guard, the pony version of the praetorian guard. This overpaid organization is, to this day, the most incompetent military unit in Equestrian military history. They have access to the most expensive armor/gear a pony can ask for, but they are very bad at their job at protecting the princesses. One of their worst failures was how they dealt with the Changelings' invasion of Canterlot more than four years ago. After that incident, they became a mockery of the Equestrian Armed Forces. Some even proposed to Princess Celestia to disband them altogether, but sadly that never happened and Dusky and her friends had to wait in front of the castle gate. Dusky Sight hummed to herself. 'Hm… how are we going to pass?'  Fortunately, before Dusky Sight thought of anything devious, a spark of light appeared in front of her and anyone near her. As the light began to go away, it revealed an amber colored mare. Not caring about the existence of the confused royal guard, she started walking into the castle like she was the owner of the place. “Hold on, let’s continue this argument later.” said the stallion arguing with Crystal Tender as he turned his attention to the amber colored mare.  "Hold on right there, miss. Where do you think you’re go-" the royal guard froze as the amber colored mare, now revealed Sunset Shimmer, showed both her horn and wings. Sunset Shimmer looked at the guard and spoke, "Hello there, guard. I know this is sudden, but can me and my friends go right inside? I don’t know if anypony told you, but this is urgent."  The royal guard stared  at her for a couple seconds, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that there is another alicorn, before shaking his head. "I-I’m sorry, who are you?"  Sunset Shimmer chuckled. "That is expected, this is supposed to be a secret after all. I am Princess Sunset Shimmer, the adopted daughter of Princess Celestia, Princess of Defense." "B-But that’s impossible! There’s only…" he counted quietly to himself before speaking to Sunset Shimmer once more. “... three alicorns! There’s only three alicorns, how can there be a fourth?” “Hard word and dedication, guard.” Sunset Shimmer looked at a nearby clocktower and turned back to the guard. “Now, we do have to get a move on. Can you let us in, or should I explain to the captain as to why one of his guards is magically at a different post?” The royal guard gulped at the subtle threat. “Y-Yeah, you and your friends are permitted to enter. Just let me do a thorough check for any disguises or anything dangerous.” The guard, though hesitantly, casted a spell on the group. A spell which was harmless and was only used to check for disguises or anything dangerous. After finding nothing out of the ordinary, he opened the gates and stepped aside for the group to enter. “You’re all permitted to head inside. Welcome to Canterlot Castle.” Sunset Shimmer smiled. “Thank you, guard, I’ll remember this.” she stepped closer towards the guard, her smile fading away, and an authoritative voice took over. “If you tell anypony about my identity, you’ll meet something worse than a change of post, got it?” The royal guard gulped. “Y-Yes, ma’am. I promise I won’t tell anypony.” Sunset Shimmer smiled once more. “That’s good to hear! Maybe you royal guards aren’t all that bad after all. Such a shame that’ll change in the future…” she muttered the last part to herself. Sunset Shimmer turned towards her friends. "Are you guys going to stand there? Get going, I’ll be right behind you." Her friends, after witnessing what had transpired, shrugged as they all went in, Sunset Shimmer following suit as the gate behind them closed. As they all walked, mostly in silence, they had a destination in mind. Their destination? The throne room. Right now, they had a mission, and it’s a mission that’ll change history once more. More than fifty ponies were present within the throne room at the time, half of them being the Elite Canterlot Nobles led by Prince Blueblood, while the other half were the Canterlot Royal Guards led by Prince/Emperor Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire who, for some reason, kept his position as captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard despite being an emperor of another nation. "I am ordering you to stand down and get out of this room! The security of Canterlot will be our responsibility!" Captain Shining Armor said. Prince Blueblood snorted, "Stand down? Me?! How dare you say that to me, you inferior peasant! Don't you know who I am? I am the prince!"  "You are not our prince!" one of the royal guards shouted. Prince Blueblood retorted in kind. "You dare to disobey my status?! May I remind you AGAIN that I have the ability to reduce your job to a mere servant? I’d watch your tongue, peasant."  “Hey! You will NOT disrespect those under my command, you unworthy foal!” said Captain Shining Armor. “Why you little-” The argument continued between the nobles and the military members, throwing child-like insults and gestures to each other. This continued on for several seconds before a group of ponies came in, and entered the throne room with a bang. *Slam* All heads in the room swiveled towards the throne room’s entrance. When once there were arguments, all ceased as they all stared at the arriving group in confusion. "What in the name of Faust is going on here!?" yelled Sunset Shimmer. Shining Armor was the first to speak up, "Who the hay are you?"  Sunset looked at the captain before aggressively revealing her wings in front of them, which surprised all the ponies in the room. "Who am I? I am Sunset Shimmer, your new princess until those who left have returned! On behalf of the royal high command, I am ordering the disbandment of the Canterlot Royal Guard, effective immediately! From here on out, the capital’s security will now be under REAF jurisdiction until further notice!" Sunset Shimmer ordered. Captain Shining Armor’s eyes widened. "What? You can't do that!" Sunset Shimmer narrowed her eyes at the captain. "Of course I can. With my mother and aunt out of the country, the highest authority of Equestria fell upon me." "Y-Your mother? You don’t mean…" Shining Armor trailed off as a smirk grew on Sunset’s face. "Yes, I am the daughter of Solar Primarch, Princess Celestia. Now, I order you and your troops to leave this room immediately before I do it myself." Silence fell in the room as her words crashed onto those within the guard. Years of organization, funding, and preparation, all gone with the new princess’s words. Shining Armor wanted to deny her authority, to go against her words, but he couldn’t. Sunset is an alicorn, and their word means law.  Dejected, the royal guard, including Shining Armor, left the room in silence. Their gazes either on the floor, or whatever was in front of them. They left in an orderly fashion as the door closed behind them, leaving only Princess Sunset Shimmer, her friends, and the nobles, in the room. Sunset Shimmer switched her attention towards the Canterlot Nobles, especially 'Prince' Blueblood. He technically wasn’t a prince, even with his constant claim that he is Celestia’s nephew, but Sunset knew better. She knows that, in fact, he is not related to her at all. He is a descendant of the Princess Platinum, lineage of the old Unicornian Kingdom. As the name suggests, the United Kingdom of Equestria is a combination of multiple different Kingdoms. The UKE consists of: The Kingdom of Unicornia, Pegasinian Empire (PEQR), and the Earth Pony Principality. As for the Thestrals, they had no kingdom. They were similar to tribes, and some even created towns to settle in, but the United Kingdoms of Equestria conquered/annexed them in 0097 CLD. Based on the founding constitution of the UKE at 0001 CLD, members of royalty in these kingdoms were obligated to give up their power to the Alicorn monarchs when Celestia and Luna began to enter their adulthood. Anyways, back to the topic, Sunset Shimmer kept staring at the Canterlot Elite Nobles. They were all self-centered, egotistical, arrogant individuals who spend their time wasting state treasury for their own blasted benefit. Though, not all Equestrian nobles were like this. Nobles such as Lord Fancypants, Fleur De lis, Star Compass, Count Dooku, Jet Set, and Silver Hoof, are one of the nobles that can be labeled as good and honorable, and Sunset Shimmer took note of that.  Right now, before she could start her mission, Sunset had some cleaning up to do. She's a military leader and not a political one, meaning her ways were aggressive, but effective. In fact, she believed that the Equestrian public would thank her for kicking these royal brats out of Canterlot. Sunset stood tall, and spoke, "On behalf of the Royal Alicorn Order, all of you will be stripped of your nobility status this instance!"  "WHAT?!!" they exclaimed. Everyone in the room, including Sunset's friend, was shocked by the action. No one had ever thought that a princess would do something like this.  For several seconds, no one said a word. An awkward silence fell on the room once more as the nobles wrapped their minds around the situation. Removing their noble status? Surely something like that was not allowed, especially if it was issued by a new princess, right?  "Have you lost your mind?! Y-You can’t do that! You’re a new princess, you can’t do that! You can’t just remove our noble status as simple as that!" cried out Blueblood. Sunset stared at Blueblood for a couple seconds before responding back, "Yes, I may be a new princess, but my word is final. You and your cronies have been ruining Canterlot and the UKE as a whole for far too long. Using your status and wealth for selfish needs? Pitiful. Now with your noble statuses removed, leave this area immediately before I arrest you all for trespassing. Do I make myself clear?” “But-” Sunset Shimmer stamped her hoof on the floor, hard. “Do I make myself clear…?” she said sternly. Blueblood looked at her momentarily before snorting, “You’ll pay for this…” Sunset Shimmer chuckled before her eyes set on the former prince. “I’d like to see you try.” Blueblood turned away from the alicorn, and ordered his group of now former nobles to leave the throne room. As they all exited the throne room, Blueblood shot one last hostile glance towards Sunset Shimmer, before closing the door to the throne room with a resounding BANG.   Sunset Shimmer stared at the door while her friends remained still, their expression filled with worry. With Sunset’s actions, they were unsure of what to do at the moment. They expected to be working on the Changeling crisis, not whatever this is.  Some seconds after the nobles left, Sunset broke her stare away from the door and focused on her friends. She immediately saw their expressions, and she went ahead to alleviate their worries. “This… had to be done.” she said. Dusky Sight was the first to reply, "Sunset… just why? Whatever you did, it was harsh, even for you."  Sunset turned her attention towards Dusky Sight. "I know, I know, but it had to be done. The royal guards were incompetent, and Blueblood and his band of ponies? I don’t even have to explain why I removed their noble status."  “I get the nobles, but why the Canterlot Royal Guard? The Changeling Invasion of Canterlot was their first taste of combat and they were outnumbered. They were bound to fail that day.” commented Crystal Tender.  Sunset Shimmer turned to the crystal pony. ”That’s a good point, but they’re supposed to be the one of the most trained branches in the REAF. They fell within minutes after the changelings broke through, letting our princesses get captured. Thankfully, the princesses were rescued and the changelings got defeated, but that’s no excuse for their combat performance. That is the reason I removed them.” “Yeah, but these are changelings we’re talking about. They can turn into anypony they want to, when they want to, and that’s confusing. If it weren’t for the fact they attacked, we wouldn’t have even known about them. Can’t you just rethink this over?” said Crystal Tender. Sunset Shimmer paused for a moment, perhaps she had gone a bit too far. Well, for the Canterlot Royal Guards anyways. The nobles she’ll never regret. Sunset Shimmer sighed. “I guess so. I might reinstate them, keyword being might, but now’s not the time. We need to work on the changelings at hoof, and we better do it quickly.”  "Got it, but before we do so, don’t you think the other princesses might get mad about your actions?" Dusky Sight asked. Sunset Shimmer replied, “I’ll figure something out later, trust me.” “If you say so, Sunset.” said Dusky Sight. "Alright, with that all out of the way, we’ll solve the government's power vacuum problem and soon, we will coordinate our efforts against the changelings. Let’s get to it!" Sunset said happily. Sunset and her friends left the throne room and ordered the local bureaucrat staff to inform the Equestrian MP’s to gather in the parliament room. The Equestrian MP’s arrived and were surprised by the appearance of Sunset Shimmer, an Alicorn.  For almost an hour, she spoke with the Equestrian MP’s, trying to prove her Alicornhood and her status as Celestia's daughter. At first, many did not believe her words, but the evidence displayed by Sunset Shimmer said otherwise. With the evidence shown, the Equestrian Parliament agreed to formally recognize the legitimacy of her position as the fourth princess of Equestria. Surprisingly, news broke out quickly. Hours after her recognition, all radio news outlets across the UKE and the Crystal Empire were reporting about the unexpected fourth princess. The citizens of the UKE and the Crystal Empire were shocked about the existence of a fourth princess, and began asking themselves what other secrets their leaders were hiding from them.  Meanwhile, after the announcement and recognition of Sunset’s position in the UKE’s government, Sunset and her friends left Canterlot Castle and made their way to the Canterlot Eastern District, where the main headquarters of the Equestrian Intelligence Agency Organization was conveniently located. The Royal Bureau of Investigation (RBI) have managed to find very interesting information on one of Equestria's main foes, the Changelings. As everyone not from Earth knows, Changelings are quadruped insectoid creatures that live in the southern part of the Equestrian continent. They have unique shape shifting abilities, being able to mimic any other creature they encounter accurately. They usually do this in order to abduct ponies or creatures to lock them up in a cocoon to gather their love.  For years, the RBI and any other available intelligence agencies have tried to eradicate, or alleviate, their actions to save the kidnapped victims so they can send them back to their families. But, because of their shape shifting abilities, they were unable to completely annihilate them. This was because after successfully kidnapping an individual pony, changelings will deploy agents to mimic the appearance of said ponies and take their identity so they could secretly cover up that the individual was kidnapped. Hundreds, possibly even thousands of changeling agents live within Equestrian society. Even trying to identify them is extremely difficult, making the whole situation 'there are impostors Among Us.  Setting that aside, Sunset Shimmer and her friends had arrived at the RBI Headquarters. They gave their identification cards to the guard and entered the building. From there, they were directed to take an elevator that would take them deep into the bedrock of Canterlot Mountain, where things that are kept secret, stay secret from the public. =///Inside the elevator, 1900 hours\\\= The atmosphere in the elevator was awkward. Everypony was silent and none of them spoke at all. The occasional rumbling of the elevator and the music that played being the only form of sound in the descending metal box. Everything continued like that until Flower Jade suddenly broke the silence. "Hey, do you guys wanna hear a joke?" Flower Jade asked, a smile beginning to grow on her face. Thunder Spark groaned. "Oh Faust… Jade, not now..."  "Yeah, now’s not the time, especially on an elevator." Dusky Sight said. ”Aw… come on! It’s not that bad. My jokes always hit.” replied Flower Jade. ”Always hit rock bottom, that is.” said Thunder Spark. ”Oh you little-” The elevator malfunctioned before Flower Jade was able to retort back. The ambient sounds of the elevator came to a halt, plunging the metal box into silence. "Keep calm, everypony. I think the facility technicians forgot to check the elevators again. I’m no technician, but this should work." assured Sunset Shimmer as she smacked the panel with her hoof. The light inside the elevator came back to life and the elevator started moving again. Unfortunately, the only thing that didn’t return was the elevator music. Things suddenly became quiet again, more quiet than before. The sound of the elevator rumbling as it made its way down was the only thing the ponies could hear now. Flower Jade, growing ever bored from the silence, began to sing a tune. "♪Du'di da da, dubidu, dada♪..." sang Flower Jade as she attempted to copy the tunes from the elevator before. "Jade…?" Sunset said. Flower Jade abruptly stopped singing and turned towards Sunset with a nervous look, "Haha… sorry Sunset, won't say a peep."  Sunset grinned. "No, you’re fine, it’s just that you're off-key, dumbass. Even a foal can do it better!” Sunset cleared her throat. ”It went like this… 𝄞Di-rim, di-rim… dubi dubi du, tara du rida~𝄞” Sunset’s singing was surprisingly really good to the point where all her friends sang along with the melody. Despite music not being Sunset’s talent, she is still really good at it. In fact, singing is one of her many hobbies whenever she has free time. As the singing in the elevator gradually came to an end, the elevator finally arrived at the inner center of Canterlot Mountain where Sunset and her friends got off the elevator and continued their journey to the meeting room. From there, they’ll meet with the RBI director and other prominent members of other intelligence organizations. As they walked, they noticed that it was very busy. Ponies were moving about quickly, either holding documents or doing something else. It appears that whatever is going on, the RBI is getting busy.  They arrived at their destination and immediately went in. Inside, they were greeted with an oval table with Chief Director Raysberry Maneller at the end of it. They also noticed other famous RBI agents such as Special Agent Sweetie Drops and Special Agent Lyra Heartstrings. But, as Sunset and her friends looked closer, they saw another pony present in the room, a crystal pony. That certain crystal pony is Arctic Lilly, director of the Northern Intelligence Service. Northern Intelligence Service or ‘NIS’ for short, is a part of the Crystal Empire’s intelligence branch. Both the RBI and NIS have been sworn enemies since the beginning when they were created. During the Equestria-Crystal Empire War in 0037 CLD, both sides tried to outdo each other by spying and carrying out dozens of black operations. The NIS were incredibly talented when it came to secret operations. Despite the NIS being a smaller organization compared to the RBI in terms of number of agents and resources they have, they are able to beat the RBI in the war of espionage because of their efficiency and proficiency in carrying out their operations. While in the middle of the war between the two countries, NIS agents managed to kill multiple generals and high-ranking members of the Equestrian military. They even managed to kidnap Princess Luna who was a young filly during that time. These are one of the reasons why Equestria decided to sue for peace and recognize the independent Crystal Empire and crystal pony sub-races. Setting that aside, while Sunset and her friends took their seats, Sunset noticed Arctic Lilly staring at RBI Director Raysberry Maneller. Sunset turned to see the RBI director and it appeared that he too had his sights locked on to the crystal pony mare. She didn't know exactly why, but there were rumors spreading within the two organizations that the two of them were more than colleagues. (Guys, listen...I'm not an FBI x CIA Fan, I swear...please) Sunset wouldn't be surprised if the rumors were true though. The crystal ponies have always been known for their lust for love. In fact, many creatures around the world dub the Crystal Empire as the horniest place on Equis. (Author's note: The Crystal Empire is basically a cross between Ultra Pacifist Canada and Modern Japan.) Sunset cleared her throat. "Ahem… so, what’s the deal with the changelings? Is it another invasion attempt?"  Director Raysberry Maneller broke his gaze from Director Arctic Lilly as he turned his attention to the new princess. “No, unfortunately it’s not another invasion attempt. This may be far-fetched, but it’s much worse.” he grabbed a paper file on the desk and set it down in front of him. "As we know, both the UKE and the Crystal Empire were suddenly displaced on this new planet called ‘Earth’. This gave rise to a unique situation, one of them is the mass teleportation of all citizens of the UKE and the Crystal Empire who were in foreign countries, back to their home countries during the time of space-dimensional cataclysm, or 'Whiteout' as we know it." Sunset Shimmer raised a brow. "I don't see this having anything to do with changelings at all, director."  "I was getting to that. You see, princess, all the ponies that were teleported back en masse not only included citizens from abroad, but also includes the ponies who have been abducted by the changelings over the past decades." revealed Director Raysberry. "I beg your pardon? W-What do you mean by that?" said a confused Sunset. “I meant what I meant, princess. Everypony, even ones thought dead from changeling abductions, have magically appeared.”  Sunset wasn't just the only pony who was surprised by this information, but all her friends as well. This couldn’t be a coincidence, nor should it even be possible. Either way, this was some sort of extraordinary miracle of divine intervention that will remain a mystery, at least for now. “When did they all appear? Where did they all appear?” asked Sunset. Director Raysberry cleared his throat. "Surprisingly, they’ve all appeared recently, just when the princesses left for the human nation. Military airships patrolling the Changeling-Equestrian border reported at least nearly sixteen thousand ponies stranded in what was formerly the territory of the Changelings Queendom. They were all found in a state of malnutrition and were all exhausted. After giving care to all the ponies, we questioned them. What they all said were the same: the changelings kidnapped them and locked them in cocoons for years inside some kind of underground cave until suddenly, the 'Whiteout' incident occurred and they suddenly found themselves out in the open.” Director Raysberry revealed. Sunset took a moment to digest all the information she was told. Years upon years of work and investigations, all done within seconds after the ‘Whiteout’ event.  "What about now? Where are they now?" Dusky Sight asked worriedly. Director Raysberry turned his attention to Dusky Sight. "At the moment, they’ve been all relocated to an isolated facility in the middle of the UKE. From there, we’ll properly check on their injuries, update them on recent events, and soon we’ll let them into society, back to their families, friends, and homes." Sunset and all the ponies’ expressions in the room began to lighten up. The 16 thousand or so ponies who were victims of inequine crimes are finally getting the help they needed. Still, that doesn’t mean everything is over. There was still one more issue they had to solve.  This time, Director Arctic Lilly spoke, "If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, then yes, this doesn't mean the problems stop there. As we know, even though all ponies overseas were teleported back to Equestria, the same couldn't be said for other species. Millions of individuals from various species such as the Griffons, Zebras, Deers, Kirins, Minotaurs, Centaurs, Hippogriffs, and others were unfortunately stranded here. With this knowledge, we’ve also learnt this includes Changelings, and we’ve estimated that there are still more than fifteen thousand changelings hiding in the communities of both the UKE and Crystal Empire." More than fifteen thousand sounds like a lot at first, until Sunset remembered that based on the limited intelligence the UKE gathered, that’s only half of the number of changelings that Queen Chrysalis mustered in her attempts to invade Canterlot many years ago. This made Sunset confident in her abilities to finally defeat one of the UKE’s most dangerous foes once and for all. But there's still one problem: tracking them down. "If there’s somewhere around fifteen thousand or so out there, how do you suppose we find them? These changelings are masters of disguise, and even trying to find one would take ages." Sunset said. Director Arctic Lilly grinned. "Now here’s the interesting part: their disguises are useless now."  Sunset raised a brow. “Useless? How so?” ”I’m glad you asked! Since we managed to find the kidnapped victims, this allows us to identify the original identities of those who have been stolen by these bugs. Find the identities, we can root these changelings out, and we’ve done the first part. Believe it or not, we've managed to track down all their individual locations down to a tee. In fact, we even managed to find their small underground colony which they built a few miles away from the former border.” Director Arctic Lilly said. Sunset whistled in astonishment. "Wow, you all were able to do that in just a few days? That's pretty impressive!"  Director Arctic Lilly smiled. "We’re the NIS and the RIB, Your Highness, intelligence work is our playground. Though, we would’ve not been able to do this without the help of Mareegle, Princetagram, PMail, and Hoofsbook. They are the ones who provided us personal information such as address, occupation, and even their favorite gathering place."  "Well... that's expected..." Sunset muttered. "Indeed… Setting that aside, we originally intended to inform Princess Celestia about this, but as we know, she and her sister are overseas right now. This leaves you to be the one in charge. We’ve done the hard work, princess, but we basically don't know what to do in this situation. Whatever is happening, we don’t have much experience in. Though, we have a number of… options or protocols to choose from." Director Arctic Lilly said. "Oh really? What kind of protocols?" Sunset asked curiously. Before Director Arctic Lilly could speak, Sweetie Drops raised her hoof.  ”Permission to tell the princess the protocols, director?” Sweetie Drops asked. Director Arctic Lilly nodded. ”Permission granted, we’re all ears.” Sweetie Drops lowered her hoof onto the table once more, and turned towards Sunset Shimmer. ”Special Agent Sweetie Drops, RIB, at your service.” Sunset nodded. ”Glad to hear that, Special Agent Sweetie Drops. Now, what are these protocols I’m hearing about?” Sweetie Drops cleared her throat. ”Ahem… these protocols were devised whenever the sovereignty of the UKE is under threat. There are hundreds of protocols, each useful in their own unique situation. It can range from tame ones to more… unsavory ones.” ”Unsavory ones? Can you please elaborate on that?” Sunset asked. Sweetie Drops sighed. ”Sure thing, princess. Unsavory protocols are ones that, if discovered, would put the UKE and her allies in jeopardy. These protocols include directly attacking the enemy, internal disruption of an enemy government, or to downright slaughtering an entire enemy species until they’ve become… extinct.” … The room fell silent as Sweetie Drops finished speaking, her words echoing in the minds of those present. The ponies in the room knew that the changelings were the enemy, but still, they had every right to live as any other species, right? The room continued to stay silent for a few seconds before Crystal Tender spoke up.  ”W-What…? That’s horrible!” Crystal Tender said. Sweetie Drops turned to Crystal Tender. ”I know the protocols sound horrible, but it could be our solution to our changeling problem, especially the last one.” ”But that’s the extermination of a species, ma’am…” Emerald Ace chimed in, looking distantly at the table in front of him.  Sweetie Drops spoke, ”I’m aware, but we can finally get rid of an enemy that has been plaguing our lands for years. Don’t you want that?” Emerald Ace sighed. ”Yeah, I want that. I want these lands to be rid of an enemy that has been invading our lands for years, but…” he looked up to turn at Sweetie Drops. ”can we possibly live with the guilt that we’ve exterminated an entire species? A species with cultures, history, and are so similar to us, despite their hunger for love? Can we possibly live with that guilt, ma’am…?” Sweetie Drops opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The only thing she can say is, ”I… I honestly don’t know…” Silence, the room fell in once more. They had a solution, an effective solution, but to act on this solution would mean an entire race exterminated. Should they even do it, or were there more pacifist protocols out there that they should use? Whatever it is, they don’t know. They sat at their meeting room table, the hoofsteps outside the door being the only form of sound those in the room can hear.  A few seconds later, Sunset spoke up. ”Can I see these… protocols, Special Agent Sweetie Drops?” Sweetie Drops turned to the new princess, a bit startled. “O-Of course, Your Highness.” she reached down to grab a document, and handed it to the princess. ”All the protocols are in there, Your Highness.” ”Thank you.” Sunset thanked as she opened the document with her magic. Protocol 1 Continous eradication of the enemy species until they’re all extinct. Destroy all records that this has ever happened at all and hide the information from the public. Protocol 2 Kill almost all of them on the spot, leaving 2% of the enemy population to prevent extinction. Lock them all up in a place of confinement in the Russean province. Code name: Stable Protocol 3 Ask the Japones tentacle monster to consume all the male enemy species, and turn the female ones into personal slav- Sunset momentarily closed the document to prevent the further reading of Protocol 3. ‘Alright, that's way too outrageous… I'll make sure whoever made this gets arrested.' Sunset thought to herself. She skipped Protocol 3 and continued to read the other options available in the paper, preferably one that wasn’t made by a monster. She wanted the changelings to be neutralized, but at the same time, she didn't want to make them go extinct or suffer forever in eternal confinement. As she continued reading, Sunset thought back to Twilight’s attempts to reform her former enemies and turn them into her friends such as the infamous Discord and Starlight Glimmer. Sunset intended on doing just that, and who knows, perhaps the changelings could be a useful asset if she managed to convince them to join their side.  Now that the UKE and the Crystal Empire is in another world, she believed the RBI and the NIS could take advantage of their unique shapeshifting magic to infiltrate foreign nations and be used for the good of both nations. After several minutes of reading the document, skipping the ones that could get someone fired, one of the protocols caught her eye. Sunset smiled, sure that she had finally found the perfect plan on what to do with the changelings. Protocol 66 Spare at least 40-60% of the enemy population and propose a bargain. Offer them open territory and help ensure the survival of their species. On the pretext that they will swear their allegiance to the UKE and her allies, teach them on how to practice a harmonious way of life. The new nation would become an Equestrian protectorate and will be under constant supervision of the Equestrian military for several years until they can be trusted enough." 'Yep, that looks perfect.' Sunset said in her mind. This was perfect protocol. No extinctions, no forced imprisonments, just turning them into a good ally. This way, the changelings won't be able to pose a significant threat to the UKE and her allies, and at the same time, they could be used to serve the UKE’s interest for decades to come. Sunset turned towards Special Agent Sweetie Drops who was tapping her hoof on the table. "Special Agent Sweetie Drops, I may have found the perfect protocol for us to choose on what we're going to do with the changelings." This caught everyone’s attention in the room. This is the moment where they’ll learn whether they took a more pacifist route, or full on extermination. They hoped for the former. "Oh, what is it? What’s the protocol we should choose?" Sweetie Drops asked. Sunset smiled. "I think it would be perfect if we execute Protocol 66."  ==///The next day, 1856 hours, a few miles from the former Equestria-Changeling border\\\= It was almost 7 PM, just before the sun began to set. In the middle of the Equestrian badlands forest, there stood over 6 thousand REAF troops, all a part of the infamous 501st Equestrian Legion. Right now, they are on a mission, a mission that is of the utmost importance. They were there to neutralize one of Equestria's most dangerous foes: Changelings. They had to be put down to prevent the growth of their already large population. If they manage to do that, then the mission will be a success. If they fail, the changelings will grow ever more cautious, evading their eyes better than before. Even though most of the ponies in the legion were seasoned veterans, they couldn't shake the uneasiness and fear of the enemy they would face. They had heard the changelings were cunning and dangerous, and considering the fact that they are cut off from their homeland, attacking them would surely result in an intense battle. Thankfully, the legion was in charge of a competent pony, that being Commander Sunset Shimmer, leader of the 501st Legion. She knew the tense status of her troops, and she perfectly knew what she had to do to revive her troop’s morale. Just like when Sunset and her friends were first deployed in Iraqquus, the good old military speech of her longtime commander in the 212th Legion would work in raising troop morale. After some time of thought, Sunset Shimmer stretched her wings and flapped them slowly. She raised off the ground and flew towards the sky. She began to hover above the military FOB they had established and gazed upon her legion below. With a cough to clear her throat, she uses the Royal Canterlot Voice to get the attention of her troops. "Attention!" Her voice echoed throughout the FOB as the ponies below turned their attention to Sunset Shimmer who was hovering over a military tent, her glorious horn and her beautiful alicorn wings in clear view. She gazed upon those under her command as she spoke, "Good evening, everypony. There’s no secrecy about our orders. The RBI and the NIS have discovered a unique opportunity in neutralizing one of the worst enemies the UKE and her allies has ever encountered.”  She cleared her throat, preparing to continue. “As you all know, all of this started four years ago when the changelings unjustly attacked our capital city of Canterlot in an attempt to take over the UKE. They had hurt many of our citizens, taken down many of our brave mares and stallions that were defending Canterlot, and they had stolen our citizen’s identity. But, let this be known that today, we finally put an end to their chaos once and for all…” She paused for a moment to gather in her soldier’s expressions. Some were determined, some were neutral, but quite a lot were unsure. Noting the latter, she pressed on. ”Children of Celestia, children of Luna, brothers and sisters, I see in some of your eyes the same fear that was once present during my first operation. A day may come, whether it’d be today or somewhere in the future, when the courage of ponykind fails, when we betray our friends and break all bonds of Friendship.” “But, hear my words, it will not be this day when that happens. There will be a day when the age of ponykind comes crashing down, when its ideals of friendship and harmony will become nothing but the past, but it is not this day! This day, on this very day, we fight! By all that you hold dear in our harmonious nation, I bid you, stand, ponies of the Equestria!" HURAH! "Glory to the Princesses!" "Glory to Harmony!" "Glory to Equestria!" "Glory to Faust's, The God Empress of Ponykind!!!" (Author's note : Yes, the United Kingdom of Equestria is basically the British Empire) Sunset smiled slightly as she slowly descended to the ground. She never knew she had it in her to do something like that, but here she was, inspiring her troops. As she touched the ground with a soft thud, she checked her watch that was around her hoof.  It was 1903 hours, just as the sun was setting. She timed the start of the operation to coincide with her own namesake. The operation of eliminating the threat of the changelings could finally begin. "Alright, everypony! Get to your battle formations! It’s time to move out!"  A flurry of activity soon happened afterwards. Ponies began moving left and right, moving around to their formations and gathering with their assigned roles and units. It was chaos, but it was organized chaos. Sunset watched the organized chaos for a few seconds before she began moving to a certain area. After some minutes of trotting, she arrived at where her friends were. They were all in their gears, each unique in their own way. She shifted her gaze to Flower Jade, who until now was still serving as the radio mare for her team. "Jade, give me your radio, I need it to give the orders to start Operation Insect Fall." Sunset ordered. Flower Jade chuckled. “Interesting operation name, but here you go.” Flower Jade gave her radio to Sunset, which Sunset took with her telekinesis. Sunset adjusted the radio’s frequency as she tuned it to the frequency which connected to all of the radio units that were a part of the operation.  She raised the radio to her mouth, and after a few seconds of thinking of what she was going to say, she took a deep breath, and spoke into it. "Attention to everypony on this frequency. This is Princess Sunset Shimmer, Princess Of Defense. Declaring that the time has come, execute Protocol 66."  Across the United Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire, both RBI and NIS agents broke into hundreds of individual teams and began moving towards their targets. Their targets? All of the changelings that had lived in pony society in secrecy. The changelings had deeply infiltrated Equine civilization, disguised from both ordinary civilians and those in power. Only time will tell if their mission will succeed or not. Meanwhile, the 501st Legion had finished forming their military formations. They were divided into hundreds of squads and multiple dedicated mages teams. They were ready to march towards a known changeling underground colony. Sunset took her special netherite armor, gear, and equipment, all of which were forged from the best of the best in all of the UKE. She raised her sword with her telekinesis and pointed eastwards, the direction of where the changeling’s underground colony was located. "ALL TROOPS, MARCH FORWARD!" Sunset ordered. The ground shook as the 501st Legion marched. Their morale was currently high and they couldn't wait to finally meet their enemy on the battlefield. As they tread the long ground, ponies from every unit started singing a song. It was a chain reaction, it began at the back of the line with a few ponies singing the song. Other ponies joined in, and soon enough, most of the 501st Legion had begun singing. Those who were not were casually listening in to their fellow soldiers as their voices traveled throughout the line.  The song in question was a song as old as time. SO old, SO ancient, the time when the making of the song goes back to the era of when Empress Faust had set her hooves on Equis and led Ponykind in the crusade against the Windigos two millennia ago. 𝄞 Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Princess 𝄞 𝄞 She is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored 𝄞 𝄞 She hath loosed the fateful rainbow from Her beautiful swift horn 𝄞 𝄞 Her truth is marching on 𝄞 𝄞 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄞 𝄢 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄢 𝄞 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄞 𝄞 Her truth is marching on 𝄞 𝄞 I have seen Her in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps 𝄞 𝄞 They have builded Her an altar in the evening dews and damps 𝄞 𝄞 I can read Her righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps 𝄞 𝄞 Her day is marching on. 𝄞 𝄞 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄞 𝄢 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄢 𝄞 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄞 𝄞 Her day is marching on! 𝄞 𝄡 𝄞 She has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat 𝄞 𝄞 She is sifting out the hearts of ponies before Her judgment-seat 𝄞 Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Her! Be jubilant, my hoofs! 𝄞 𝄞 Our God is marching on! 𝄞 𝄞 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄞 𝄢 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄢 𝄞 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄞 𝄞 Our God is marching on! 𝄞 𝄞 In the beauty of the Tree of Harmony was born in Everfree Forest 𝄞 𝄞 With the magic of it's Fruits that Harmonizing the entire continent 𝄞 𝄞 As they all died to spreading chaos upon the world, let us die to spreading harmony upon this world 𝄞 𝄞 While our God is marching on! 𝄞 𝄞 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄞 𝄢 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄢 𝄞 Glory, glory, Harmony! 𝄞 𝄞 WHILE...OUR...GOD...IS...MARCHING...ON!!! 𝄞 𝄡 > Protocol 66 (Part 2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =///Crystal Empire, Estovakia Province, Rainbow Falls City, 1904 hours\\\= In a city in the eastern province of the Crystal Empire, lies a house. The house and the family who lives in it looks like a normal family from the outside, but on the inside, it contains a very dark secret. On the sofa in the garden terrace of the house, a pony named Crystal Varado can be seen sitting down on it. He is a crystal pony stallion, having a light-red coat and bright-golden mane. He is known by his family and everyone in the town as a friendly and gentle pony, one who desires nothing but a peaceful life. In truth, everything is just a façade. His real name is actually Thorax, and he's a changeling. Deep in thought, he sits on the sofa, reflecting upon the years he has spent in disguise. Years ago, he and his brother, Pharynx, kidnapped the real Crystal Varado when he went to mine for crystals in a local cave. After locking him up in a cocoon back in the central hive, Thorax was tasked with taking on the identity of Crystal Varado to prevent suspicions that the real one had been kidnapped. For 4 years, Thorax has been disguising and adapting himself to pony society. Most of the time, Thorax has been playing the role of a caring father and a loving husband. He took care of Varado’s wife, Amber Laurel, and her daughter, Cloudy Spinel, to prevent their suspicions. Though, as time went on, and he began to know them on a personal level, he didn’t want to admit it, but he genuinely loved and cared for them both. The moment he took the identity and stepped into Crystal Varado’s household for the first time, he had been tackled by Cloudy Spinel. Crystal Varado’s daughter showered him with love, lots of love, and showed excitement that her “father” had returned from the mines after a long time. She had told him stories of how her day went, and went on and on about how her friends managed to topple a tree down onto an unsuspecting empty shopping stand.  Safe to say that Thorax, or Crystal Varado, had to pay for the damages on his first day. Then came Amber Laurel, Crystal Varado’s wife. She was watching from a small distance as she witnessed the heartwarming scene. She had chuckled when her “husband” and daughter tumbled to the floor when Cloudy Spinel pounced on him. Approaching the pair, Amber Laurel warmly greeted the disguised Thorax, affectionately planting a kiss on his forehead. Thorax, or Crystal Varado, was surprised by the gesture, but returned it in kind for fear of being found out so early into his disguise. On the very first day of Thorax’s task, he had already been shown more love than the years he spent back at the hive. In the first weeks, Thorax interacted with “his” family, doing whatever he can to not raise suspicion. But, as time went on, and weeks turned into years, he honestly felt like he had a wife and daughter to protect and care for. Thorax went through a lot during those years. To the time when he fixed Cloudy Spinel’s bike when it broke apart, when Ambel Laurel needed help with the garden, and to the time when he even had to fight off 3 thugs to defend his family during a home invasion. He almost lost that fight if it weren’t for Cloudy Spinel dropping a vase on top of the last thug’s head. Thorax smiled as he went through those memories. Even with the sudden event of being teleported to a new world and losing his homeland, he honestly couldn’t care less. "Honey, the dinner is ready~!" Amber Laurel's voice can be heard from within the house.  Crystal Varado snapped out of his memories and turned towards the house. "Oh, I'm coming, Amber!"  Thorax, or Crystal Varado, stood up from the sofa and entered the house to begin dinner. Feeling the wind rustle through his mane, he was blissfully unaware of dozen watchful stares observing his every move. =///Varado family house, dining room, 1905 hours\\\= Thorax, or Crystal Varado, sat in his seat in the family dining room. At the dining table, Amber Laurel has placed various kinds of typical crystal pony foods. For example: Crystal Berry Pies, Cassiterite Salad, and a classic, Crystal Poutine.  While Amber was still preparing the final touches for the dessert, their daughter, Cloudy Spinel, a crystal pegasus (one of the rare variants of the crystal pony sub-race), with her light-pink coat and light-brown mane, excitedly came out of her room carrying her paper containing her artwork to show her parents. "Mom, dad, look at what I drew!" Cloudy Spinel said happily. (Art by PetalTwinkel from Twitter) "Oh my Faust, that looks wonderful, Cloudy!" complimented Amber Laurel. The disguised Thorax nodded in agreement. "Your mom is right, it looks really good! Maybe you might finally be able to get your cutie mark by drawing art."  Cloudy Spinel gasped. "You really think so?! Oooh, oooh! I’m going to start drawing more and more then! I’m going to draw a thousand drawings!"  Ambel Laurel turned to the disguised Thorax and spoke with a teasing tone. "You’ve done it now, you’ve got her excited. You know what that means…”  The disguised Thorax realized his mistake, and simply surrendered to what he had done. “Aw horseapples… The last time that happened, by the time we made it back home, I’ve felt like I’ve ran a thousand miles…” Ambel Laurel chuckled at the sight of her “husband’s” slight misfortune. ”Oh, don’t be like that. You seemed to have fun helping her find her cutie mark as an explorer.” “Yeah, dad! Remember that time when we uncovered that time box thingy we found? It was awesome!” said Cloudy Spinel. The disguised Thorax smiled at the memory. ”Yeah, I remember it clearly. Odd place to put a time capsule though. I wonder why they’d place it under someone’s front lawn…” “I don’t know, but you still have to fix that old stallion’s lawn. But, setting that aside, it's time we start dinner! I made hematite pudding for tonight~." Amber Laurel said. Cloudy Spinel jumped up and down excitedly. "Yay! I love hematite pudding!"  Thorax smiled, happy to see both his 'daughter' and 'wife' happy. Sometimes, he feels sad for the original Crystal Varado, not being able to enjoy this moment. When he was assigned to kidnap and lock him up in a cocoon, he could remember it clearly.  The real Crystal Varado looked at him with frightened eyes, sweat running down his face. He could recognize the total terror by his expression alone, knowing that he would likely end up in a cocoon for the rest of his life, but also that the changeling would also steal his identity and live with his family. Though, unlike other changelings who just follow the queen's orders without thinking twice, Thorax has sympathy for the captured ponies and sometimes questions the queen’s actions. It got to the point where Thorax began to consider revealing his true identity to everyone, trying to help the UKE free the kidnapped ponies. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough courage to do something like that. Trying to help the UKE free kidnapped ponies would mean betraying The Hive and his species as a whole. So, he is stuck in a dilemma about what he should do. He sometimes even wonders how Amber Laurel and Cloudy Spinel would react when they find out that their husband/father was actually a changeling. Today, however, everything would change. When he was about to take the first bite of his Cassiterite salad, a sudden knock would be heard on the house’s front door. *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* "NIS, OPEN UP!" Before they had a chance to answer, the front door flew off its hinges as it crashed onto the floor. Dozens of RBI and NIS agents, along with several contingents of Crystal Empire Defense Force soldiers (CEDF), entered their house with special weapons such as obsidian swords and newly reverse engineered repeater crossbows in their hooves. They destroyed multiple pieces of furniture in the house. Ranging from vases, jars, plates and even family photos. They do a lot of collateral damage to ensure dramatic entry and to confuse those within. "MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! URAHHH!"  The family was, of course, really shocked to say the least. Cloudy Spinel and Amber Laurel screamed as loud as they could, whilst Thorax, well… Thorax could stay at his seat in a frozen state, unable to comprehend how they managed to find him. "Target spotted! Take him down!" yelled out one of the NIS agents. In quick succession, one of the CEDF soldiers fired two arrows with her repeater crossbow at Thorax. The shots managed to land on his thigh and his left foreleg. Thorax jolted with the pain coursing through his body and fell to the floor, bleeding his green blood. His shapeshifting magic spell was broken, and in a spark of green fire, he changed back to his original form. ”DAD!” "NOOOOOOO! You monsters! What have you done to my husband?!" Amber Laurel screamed. "Ma'am, calm down!” -an RBI agent shook Ambel Laurel before pointing at Thorax- “HE is not your husband!"  "W-What do you mean!? How is he not my husband?!" ”Just look!” said the same RBI agent that shook her. Amber shifted her focus from the agent in front of her, towards where she was pointing. The direction of her gaze pointed towards her husband who had fallen on the floor, but something was wrong. She doesn't remember her husband having horns or wings and a black insectoid body. A few seconds later, realization hits her like a Japanese bullet train at what she was looking at.  She fainted, and fell onto the floor. "MOMMY!" Cloudy Spinel screamed. Thorax was unable to hide his horrified expression when he saw Amber passed out on the floor, and Cloudy Spinel crying beside her unconscious mother. He knew one day that he would be caught by the authorities, but he didn't expect that day to be today, especially not in front of his family too.  He could hear and see Cloudy Spinel crying loudly non-stop, her eyes watering like the Neighagara Falls he visited with them last summer. He knows that all of this would really traumatize the young filly for the rest of her life, and it was his fault. He felt regret for not telling his family the truth much sooner. Maybe, just maybe, he would’ve been able to prevent all this from happening.  RBI and NIS agents tied all four of his hooves with iron cuffs, but not before fixing his wounds. It was surprisingly easy since Thorax wasn't resisting them at all, he was too depressed to even resist at this point. They forcefully took him outside, leading him into a caged cart. Before he was taken away and put into the cart, he could see a medical team entering the house to check on Amber and Cloudy's condition. He could still hear the sobs from his “daughter”, even outside the house. Hearing Cloudy Spinel’s distressed cries, something just… clicked in him. His urge to comfort Cloudy Spinel during this dire time, to assure her that everything would be just fine, overrides his feelings of sadness. At first, he stopped moving, surprising the two agents that were escorting him. ”Hey, what are you doing? Keep moving!” demanded the RBI agent. Thorax remained motionless. This time, the NIS agent spoke up, ”Hey buddy, my pal over here said to move it.” This time, Thorax reacted. He turned his head towards the NIS agent with a pleading look. ”Please, let me comfort the filly inside that house.” This caught the NIS agent off-guard. ”What? Uh…” he looked at his RBI counterpart for an answer. ”What do I do?” The RBI agent rolled her eyes. ”It’s just another changeling tactic. Don’t believe it.” The NIS agent looked back at Thorax. ”I’m sorry, bud, but we can’t allow you to do that.” Thorax’s heart sank as he heard the words from the NIS agent. He needed to console Cloudy Spinel. He can’t bear hearing her distraught cries in the house any longer.  “Please,” Thorax implored once more, his voice beginning to fill with desperation. ”I’m begging you, just let me be in my disguise to comfort Cloudy Spinel. Just a minute or two, please…” The RBI agent sighed, growing inpatient. ”Enough of this! We have our orders, and we can’t delay it any longer.” The NIS agent was now hesitant. He looked at the changeling’s eyes for any deception, but none could be seen. The changeling before him was being genuine. As an NIS agent, he had a duty to arrest all changelings for the safety of all. However, his personal side, his compassionate side, told him to allow Thorax to comfort the weeping filly in the home. The NIS agent looked at his RBI counterpart. ”C-Can’t we just allow him to go in there, disguised, and comfort the filly for a moment?” The RBI agent looked at the NIS agent, bewildered. ”Are you serious right now?” she stepped closer towards the NIS agent. ”Are you hearing yourself? Allowing a changeling, a CHANGELING out of all species, to comfort a filly he has been deceiving for years and years? No, I won’t allow it, and I will never allow it.” The NIS agent winced at her words, but she had a point. Allowing a changeling to comfort a filly he had deceived for so long, even in disguise, seemed risky. Yet, he couldn’t also deny the fact that the changeling in front of him was being genuine.  This NIS agent gave it a thought, and with a heavy heart, turned towards Thorax. Ultimately, he couldn’t risk it. ”I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to do that…” he finally said. Thorax’s eyes widened in desperation. ”No… y-you have to let me do it!” he pleaded. ”I’m sorry, but it’s a risk I can not take. Now, get moving.” the NIS agent replied. The RBI agent shoved Thorax to force him to move. ”You heard what he said, changeling. Get moving.” Despite the agent’s warnings, Thorax couldn’t ignore the overwhelming desire to comfort Cloudy Spinel. As they tried to get him moving, Thorax resisted by planting his hooves firmly onto the ground. ”I didn’t want to do this…” he muttered. The NIS agent raised a brow. ”What do you me-” This NIS agent was cut off as Thorax lunged himself onto him, momentarily rendering the NIS agent immobile. Thorax shifted his attention to the RBI agent, who was already beginning to make her way to restrain Thorax. ”Hey! Get off of him, you changeling!” the RBI agent shouted. Despite the cuffs on him, Thorax got up to confront the RBI agent. He wasn’t the best at combat, but he was pretty decent at it. He got down and suddenly launched himself at the RBI agent. The RBI agent was caught off guard by the sudden act, and didn’t have enough time to react so she too was knocked down onto the ground. By now, Thorax had gained the attention of surrounding CEDF soldiers. He was panicking a lot, why did he have to attack them at all? He could have complied with their orders, but why didn’t he? But then, he was reminded again of the reason as Cloudy Spinel’s cries can be heard echoing from the house.  As Thorax stood there, surrounded by the two downed agents and advancing CEDF soldiers, his mind was racing through hundreds of thoughts. The scene before him was chaotic to say the least, and he felt torn between his duty as a changeling, and the desire to comfort his “daughter”. The NIS agent, though a bit shaken, quickly regained his composure along with his RBI counterpart. The NIS agent glared at Thorax, feeling betrayed and outmaneuvered. The NIS agent turned towards his RBI counterpart. ”Lunar Wings, are you alright?” he asked. The RBI agent, or Lunar Wings, turned her attention to him. ”Yeah, I’m alright. What about you, Star Sweeper?” He nodded. ”I’m fine, I’m fine.” he glanced around before looking back at Lunar Wings. ”What now?” ”We take him out, non-lethally.” she replied. Star Sweeper looked at Thorax. ”Got it…” The Agent Star Sweeper and Agent Lunar Wings got up, and moved cautiously towards Thorax. Thorax noticed the two agents, and other CEDF soldiers, moving towards him. He knew he was in a precarious situation, and he knew he had no hope of fighting anymore. His heart ached when the thoughts of Cloudy Spinel in distress appeared in his mind, but he realized that his actions were only causing more harm than good. ”I-I don’t want to fight!” Thorax exclaimed, sitting down and raising his hooves in surrender. ”Please… just let me explain…” The CEDF soldiers remained cautious, their weapons at the ready. Agent Lunar Wings looked at Thorax with anger with a mix of suspicion. ”Explain? You had your chance to listen, and yet you attacked us!” she yelled out. Thorax took a deep breath, taking a moment to find the right words. ”Look, I didn’t want to hurt anypony! But, I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing as I heard her crying! I have to comfort her and be there for her. She doesn’t deserve what happened to her, to see what she saw, but it happened anyway!” Thorax continued. ”Her mother is unconscious, and probably still is. She saw her father, me, get hit by arrows before falling onto the ground. Her home, the place she was raised in, now all a mess. She has nopony by her side, but strangers.” Thorax sighed. “I… I care about her, perhaps too much for somepony like me, but I really do care about her… If you don’t let me in for my sake, please, do it for her sake instead…”  His words hung in the air for a moment, the surrounding area ever so quiet. Even inside the house, not a sound can be heard. The agents, even Lunar Wings, found themselves hesitating, their stern expressions softening as they took in Thorax’s words. The CEDF soldiers, ponies who were trained to not let their guard down, had lowered their weapons ever so slightly. Agent Lunar Wings glanced at the house, and looked back at Thorax. ”Are you telling the truth right now…?” she asked. Thorax looked at her. ”What will I gain from even lying?” Agent Lunar Wings looked closely at Thorax, but she could see no deception. She began to understand why Sweeping Star had proposed the idea of letting the changeling go to comfort the filly inside, but she was so focused on her job instead, that she wasn’t able to see the other side.  Agent Lunar Wings sighed before turning to look at Agent Sweeping Star. ”Sweeping Star, get the keys in the cart…” He nodded. ”Yes, ma’am.” She turned back to look at Thorax. ”I can’t believe I’m doing this, but make it quick. I’m going back on my word for you.” Thorax smiled softly at the agent. ”T-Thank you so much. It’ll be quick, I promise.” Agent Sweeping Star returned with the keys, and went to Thorax. With a turn, the cuffs came off, and Thorax was free temporarily. ”We’ll escort you in, but no funny business. Be in your disguise, talk to the filly, and we’re taking you back.” warned Agent Lunar Wings. Thorax nodded. ”Of course.” Thorax’s horn lit up, and a radiant green fire enveloped his entire body, transforming the changeling into Crystal Varado. Both the agents stared at the transformation as a look of shock ran across their faces. ”We forgot to put in the magic inhibitor, didn’t we?” said Agent Lunar Wings. Agent Star Sweeper nodded. ”I think we did…” Agent Lunar Wings sighed, and shook her head. ”Bah, we’ll put it on when he’s finished.” she turned to Thorax. ”Alright, get to it.” Thorax complied and made his way towards the building, the two agents acting as escorts for the disguised changeling. The CEDF soldiers simply watched in subtle surprise as the trio walked towards the home. They had never expected this to happen out of all things. As they arrived at the home’s front door, Thorax hesitated for a moment. Why was he doing this? He wasn’t even related to them.  He shook his head to clear his mind, this was not the time to ask such silly questions. It was time to comfort his “daughter”, inside the broken home, and he was planning to follow through it. He opened the door, and went in, the two agents following suit. Thorax looked around his home, everything either broken or misplaced. He navigated through the broken stuff, and made his way to the dining room.  As the disguised Thorax arrived at the dining room, he spotted Amber Laurel being placed on a stretcher as medical ponies began preparing to leave with her. Thorax felt guilty as he saw Amber Laurel on the stretcher, he knew that this was his fault. But, at very least, he knew that she would be alright. He approached the first medical pony he saw, and asked a question. ”Excuse me, but do you know where the filly is?” The medical pony turned his attention towards the disguised Thorax. ”I’m sorry, but who are you?” Thorax took a moment to think of the right words. ”I’m a… close relative to this family. I need to see the filly.” The medical pony looked at him suspiciously, but after a few seconds, he shrugged. ”She is in her room, right over there.” he pointed. ”She’s a bit troubled, but that’s to be expected. We tried talking to her, but she won’t say much. Hopefully a recognizable face would help.” the medical pony added. Thorax simply nodded and thanked the medical pony as he made his way to Cloudy Spinel’s room. He took one last glance at Amber Laurel, wishing he could do something to help, but he knew he should leave it to ponies who were more trained than him. He arrived at Cloudy Spinel’s room, her many drawings covering the door. He smiled sadly at it, knowing the many drawings on her door were representing her many adventures that he had the pleasure of being in.  ”We’ll be out here waiting for you.” said Agent Star Sweeper. Thorax simply said nothing, and went inside. Inside her room, it was the same mess it was before even the sudden raid. He looked around before he spotted, right there on her bed, Cloudy Spinel hugging a pony doll he gave her as a present. ”Cloudy Spinel?” the disguised Thorax said. Cloudy Spinel looked up from her bed, her saddened expression remained as she spoke. ”You’re not my real dad, aren’t you?” Thorax took an involuntary step back as Cloudy Spinel looked at him, her eyes piercing through his soul. He couldn’t believe it, but she knew. How could she have known? ”When… when did you realize that…?” he stammered out. Cloudy Spinel pointed at her window. ”When you were outside with your hooves up, talking to the two ponies.” Thorax looked at where she pointed, and low and behold, it revealed a window that showed her everything that led to this point. He turned his attention back to Cloudy Spinel, and sat down across from her. He struggled to find the right words, nothing could have prepared him for this moment. Cloudy Spinel noticed Thorax’s hesitation, and spoke up. ”C-Can you show your true self?” she asked. Thorax looked at her, and spoke. ”Are you sure you want to see that…?” She nodded, still holding onto the pony doll. ”Yes, I want to see.” she replied. Thorax sighed, and dropped his disguise. The green fire enveloped his entire body once more, erasing Crystal Varado from sight, leaving Thorax the Changeling in its wake. Cloudy Spinel’s eyes widened at the sight in front of her. But, instead of fear or malice, she was curious. ”What are you?” she asked, genuinely intrigued. Thorax replied, ”I am a changeling…” ”What’s a changeling?” she asked once more. Thorax answered her question. ”Changelings are ponies that… rely on love to live. We can eat regular food, but it won’t keep us alive. We adapt by hiding in the dark, being ponies that aren’t the real us. In short, we’re… impostors.” Cloudy Spinel nodded, and asked another question. ”If you’re not my real dad, where is he?” Thorax looked down in shame. ”He’s in a cocoon my brother and I made. He was supposed to be safe, but right now? I… I honestly don’t know.” he admitted. An awkward silence came afterwards, the sounds of the outside world being the only noise they could hear in the room. There was little to say; he was found out, and by one of the only ponies he cared about. If she was mad at him, it was justified. Cloudy Spinel hopped down from her bed, leaving the pony doll behind. She walked towards the saddened Thorax, the intent was unknown to him. Would she be mad? Disappointed? Even scared? He wouldn’t know, so he prepared for whatever she had in mind. So when she did come, it came to a surprise to Thorax that, instead of anything negative, it was something else. Cloudy Spinel sat down from across Thorax, and spoke. ”How long have you been taking care of me?” she asked. Thorax expected to be asked something else. He expected to be asked along the lines of, “How long have you been deceiving me?”, but that was not the case. Though, he should’ve expected this. Cloudy Spinel has always been a kind and curious filly, so it should be no surprise that she would approach him in the same manner. Thorax sighed. ”Four years. For four years, I’ve been taking care of you.” Cloudy Spinel looked on in surprise. ”Really? Woah, that’s a really, really, really long time.” she paused for a moment, and spoke again. ”So me and you went on those cool adventures you took me on to get my cutie mark?” Thorax nodded. ”Yeah, that was me.” ”And you helped me with my homework?” Again, Thorax nodded. ”Mhm.” ”You were also the one who fought those bad ponies when they went into our house?” ”Uh… yeah, that was also me.” he admitted. She tilted her head. ”Why?”  Thorax hesitated for a moment. He knew the answer, but he found it difficult to reveal it to her. Was it because he was in his true form, or was it because she knows the truth? Thorax shook his head, shaking those thoughts away. He had to be honest with her.  ”It’s… it’s because I care about you and your mother…” he revealed. Cloudy Spinel’s eyes widened. Y-You do…?” Thorax sighed. ”I do…” Cloudy Spinel stared at him, saying nothing. Thorax’s eyes widened as he began to think he had made a mistake. He revealed too much, and the thought of Cloudy Spinel rejecting him sent Thorax into a panic. However, as Thorax was about to speak, Cloudy Spinel smiled, catching him off guard. ”Then it’s okay.” she said softly, ”You may not be my real dad, but you care for me and my mom a lot.” Thorax gaped at her. ”B-But I’m a changeling, tricking you and your mother into keeping me alive. How are you fine with that…?” Cloudy Spinel looked thoughtful before responding, ”Well, I don’t like that you lied to me and my mom, but you’ve done so much for us for a long time. She went on. ”You helped me try to get my cutie mark, you helped me with my homework, and you protected us from those bad ponies when they got in our home. You could’ve left us when those bad ponies attacked, but you didn’t. She smiled warmly at Thorax. ”You seem like a good pony, even in your disguise. That’s why I’m okay with it. You’ve done some bad things, but you’ve done some good things as well. Nopony is perfect, but we can always better ourselves.” By now, Thorax’s eyes welled up as he was overwhelmed with emotion. He never expected such understanding and acceptance from Cloudy Spinel, a filly he unfortunately had to deceive. She had every right to be mad, to be hateful and lash out at him, but she didn’t. In a tender moment, he reached out a hoof towards her cheek, and gently touched it. ”T-Thank you, Cloudy Spinel. I-It means a lot…” he said, choking back his tears. To his surprise, she did the unexpected: she hugged him.  Thorax was surprised by the gesture, but he returned it in kind. He was tearing up by now, but he didn’t fight it. He let his emotions run free as they both embraced each other. ”Thank you for everything…” she whispered. As the room became voiceless, and the sounds of the outside world seemed to quiet down, in that moment, Thorax knew he had found something truly special… > Operation Insectfall (Part 3) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Are We the Baddies?" -That Mitchell =/// Changelings Underground Colony \\\= Commander Pharynx was having a terrible day. Against all odds, the Equestrians had discovered their small underground colony they made a few miles from the border. How they did it was unbeknownst to him, but it no longer mattered anymore. Adding insult to injury, they also brought a sizable force. The Equestrians had even managed to surround all underground exits within a few minutes before any changelings were able to evacuate. In the distance, the sounds of a battle can be heard. ZAPPP....ZAPPPPP....ZAPPPP... SHREKKKKK, *SMACH* "AAAARRHHHHHRR...*SPLAT* Commander Pharynx focused his gaze back on the battle, and it wasn’t improving. They were outnumbered, outmatched, and possibly even outskilled by the enemy. The situation got even worse when he heard reports of an unknown Alicorn leading their attackers.  He tried to order some changelings to set up barricades in every passage of the Colony, but the Equestrian's were able to overwhelm the defense in just a few minutes. He cursed Queen Chrysalis for all of this; many of her advisers in the Central Hive issued concerns about the establishment of an underground colony in UKE territory. Ever since her failed invasion of Canterlot a few years ago, she has been constantly talking about her plans for 'Revenge' against the equines. To her knowledge, the establishment of an underground colony near the border would be a good starting point for her plans to kidnap the Alicorn princesses and take over the United Kingdom of Equestria. However, that never happened since a mysterious incident that the ponies call 'Whiteouts' had occurred. Within seconds of this ‘Whiteout’ event, they had lost contact with the Central Hive and now had to survive in the middle of enemy territory on their own. Looking at the situation now, it wouldn’t seem they would be able to hold out any longer. *KA BOOM* An explosion occurred as Equestrian soldiers penetrated the last lines of their already crippled defenses. Pharynx could see them being led by the mysterious Alicorn he had heard of. The mysterious Alicorn slaughtered any changelings in her path while the Equestrian soldiers behind her started advancing.  His soldiers tried fighting back with whatever they had their hooves on. Whether it’d be a proper weapon, or a tiny pebble, anything close by was used to fight. Unfortunately, even with everything they threw, slashed, and shot at the advancing Equestrians, they couldn’t counter the existence of the mysterious amber Alicorn. Pharynx didn't want to die, he didn’t want to see his brothers and sisters die. He didn’t want to die like this, he still had plans to do with his life. While Pharynx was still contemplating on what he should do, a female changeling named Vadamee came up to him, her face of desperation. "Commander, the ponies have breached our last line of defense! We’re losing too many of us, what should we do?!" Vadamee said in a panic. Pharynx turned towards Vadamee. "I.. I don't know, Vadamee. We can't just surrender, we don't even know what the ponies will do to us! Our queen refused to sign their the Geneighva Convention Charter and it appears it came back to slap us in the face..."  "Sir, I don't want to be that changeling, but we don’t have a choice but to take the risk. The ponies have cornered us, surrounded us with hundreds of their troops. Imagine if they managed to enter the hatchery room… Our species will become extinct!" Vadamee said fearfully. The word ‘extinction’ sent shivers down Pharynx’s spine. Genocide and mass killings were not uncommon at Equis, but the complete extinction of an entire species is something that has never happened before. A difficult choice lies in front of him. Either choose surrender in which he has no clue what the equines would do to them, or face extinction, but die fighting. With a heavy heart, he decided to choose the former. It’s a risk he must take, and he hopes it’s a risk that pays off. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but raise the white flag. We’re surrendering." Pharynx said nonchalantly. Vadamee saluted. "Y-Yes, sir."  As Vadamee left Commander Pharynx to his own lonesome, Pharynx dropped his sword and took off his helmet. Sweat ran down his head as the helmet was placed onto the blood ridden floor. He could see the white flag rise above his soldier’s heads as the first changeling dropped their weapons. “Let’s hope these ponies are benevolent as they claim…” =///Meanwhile\\\= Commander Sunset Shimmer had never been this happy in her life. Not only did her troops catch the enemy completely off guard, they had broken through the enemy's last line of defense. She could smell victory the moment she blew up the temporary changeling’s barricade with a good old 'BUCK YOU' blast spell. She continuously fired multiple magical beams at the enemy positions, killing dozens of changelings in the process.  She believed it was only a matter of time before the changelings chose to finally surrender. Sure enough, after a few minutes of breaking through their defenses, one of the female changelings ran up to their position carrying a white sheet tied to a large stick, meaning only one thing. "EVERYPONY! PLEASE, STOP KILLING EACH OTHER!" The Equestrian legionaries and Changeling soldiers stopped their fighting, focusing their attention on the female changeling. "Please, w-we surrender. Commander Pharynx has given the order to surrender, please stop killing us for Queen’s sake!" Vadamee cried out. The cave fell silent for a few seconds as everyone tried to digest the information they just heard, especially the changelings.  One of the changelings stepped forward. “What do you mean…?” he asked. Vadamee stuck the surrendering flag onto the ground, and turned towards the changeling who spoke.  ”I-It means we’re done fighting…” she stammered out. “J-Just… just stop the killing…” A few seconds passed as the silence lingered on. The changelings looked at each other with hesitation. They had expected to fight to the last one, giving the UKE a message that they will not go down without a fight, but surrender? That was the last thing on their mind. However, as the changelings looked at the destruction around them, their fallen brothers and sisters lying lifeless on the ground, only did they realize that surrendering was the better option.  Soon enough, a single changeling soldier dropped his weapon on the cave floor and turned himself in. And another, and then another. Like dominoes falling onto each other, the changelings surrendered themselves one by one. Sunset exhaled a relieved breath as the battle was finally over. She ordered her troops to stand down and deployed medics to help and take care of the wounded. Unfortunately for her, her work was not over. She still had to take care of the paperwork regarding the management of POWs, and the implementation of the second phase of Protocol 66. =///A few hours later\\\= Sunset sat in her tent chair while letting out a weary sigh. Following the Changeling’s surrender in their underground colony, the Equestrians tended to the wounded and buried the dead. The 501st Legion lost at least around 450 ponies which was… not good. But, compared to the Changeling’s losses, it was the best outcome, as the changelings had lost around 1700 of their own. Not only that, but she also heard the news that the operation to paralyze the Changeling agents scattered throughout Equestria and the Crystal Empire ended in a total success. It was a big day for the UKE and the Crystal Empire, and it needed some sort of celebration. As she looked outside her tent, she spotted some of her legionaries doing a T-pose in front of the POWs. She doesn’t know why they do it, but it appeared to bring troop’s morale so she left it be. As much as Sunset wanted to join in and celebrate their victory with her friends, she unfortunately still had things to take care of first. One of them is what she should do to take care of the POWs in her care. They had managed to capture around twenty-thousand Changelings in total. That was beyond the capacity of military prison standards in the UKE. Most military prisons could only handle around a thousand POW at its max. Even the infamous prison facilities in the Russean province can only hold a capacity of 4000 at its best. So, with no other choice, Sunset had to ask the help from one of the UKE’s most notorious legions. The Germaneigh Legion. As one of the few Thestral majority provinces in the United Kingdom of Equestria, Germaneigh. being a province that has the highest level of autonomy in the Europonean region, has a very bad track record in the ethics department due to lack of oversight from the central government.  During the time of the second Europonean war, Germaneigh succeeded in conquering the Prance province and built hundreds of POW detention facilities across the province. One of their detention facilities had the ability to hold more than thirty thousand prisoners. Although most of these facilities have been decommissioned and torn down, some are still active and operational to this day. Sunset really doesn't want to have any relations with anyone from Germaneigh. Hell, the doctor who kidnapped and tortured her for his sick experiments was from Germaneigh. Sunset always had a sense of Déjà vu whenever she heard the word 'Germaneigh', or anyone related to it. However, she had no other choice but to send them to Germaneigh for detention. At least until she finishes setting up proper facilities for them. She plans to build a special facility to reform and re-educate the Changelings on the topic of whatever makes the UKE, the UKE. After the program is complete, they would be released and are permitted to re-establish their own capital and create their own country whenever they choose to. It was a bit too ambitious, she admitted. Many of the RBI and NIS members opposed the plan, but she insisted that it would help them in the long run. Besides, she didn’t want to be the first princess to cause the extinction of an entire species. Setting that aside, while Sunset was still thinking on how to deal with the mass of POWs, one of the pegasi scouts came in and informed her of the arrival of two airships from Germaneigh. Sunset thanked the scout and made her way out of her tent. As she looked around, she spotted from a distance the arrival of two giant airships accompanied by the famous Germaneigh Luftwaffle squadron. The legionaries looked at the airships in amazement as it came into view, its huge propellers pushing its massive structure forwards. The flying behemoth was at least 600 meters long and 75 meters wide. Germaneigh had always been famous for their large airships compared to airships manufactured in other provinces.  Sunset was not impressed by their large designs. In fact, she really hates it. Germaneigh often overengineers their airship, usually ending with deadly accidents that claim many lives. One of the victims was Sunset's own parents, so she stared at the airship with a disapproving face. The airships landed onto the ground alongside their escorts, shaking those near it. The propellers turned off and its massive doors opened, revealing Germaneigh Legion troops whos task was to secure the POWs. Most of the Germaneigh Legion troops consisted of Thestrals, all of them wearing the infamous dark gray armor that had always been part of the Germaneigh martial culture. Despite their friendly looks, Sunset’s feeling of discomfort was still present. She had heard that, during the Second Europonean War,  there was a plan to disband the Germaneigh Legion for betraying the UKE. However, that plan had to be put on hold due to opposition from Princess Luna. Despite being traitors and having bad ethics, the average Germaneigh Legion’s soldiers were proven to be really good shocktroopers. Hence, due to this, the Germaneigh Legion was kept.  Without wasting any time, Sunset approached the Germaneigh Legion’s commander, Lake Skydestroyer, and spoke to him.  ”Greetings, Commander Lake Skydestroyer. I hope the trip here wasn’t all too bad?” Commander Skydestroyer shook his head. ”Nein, mein legion went through worse, I assure you, Prinzessin Sunset Shimmer.” Princess Sunset Shimmer nodded. ”Great to hear that, commander.” ”Ja, ja… but setting that aside, I presume you didn’t come here to greet me, am I correct?” ”You’re correct. Right now, I’ve called you and your legion to take most of our POWs and place them into your custody until we’ve found other alternatives.” Commander Skydestroyer chuckles. ”Only that? Haha! Scheiße, and I thought we were here to take them out! Taking these oversized käfer in our custody will be as easy as pie.” She frowned. ”Don’t underestimate them, commander. Despite them surrendering, there’s always the possibility of them breaking out. They’ve managed to infiltrate our society with ease, who’s to say they’ll use their abilities within?” warned Princess Sunset Shimmer. ”Don’t worry, meine prinzessin, we’ll handle these käfer like the professionals we are. No changelings, no matter how talented, will escape under our eyes.” ”Glad to hear that, Commander Lake Skydestroyer. You’re permitted to leave and follow your orders.” Commander Skydestroyer saluted. ”Of course, mein prinzessin. Your orders will be followed to the letter.” As Commander Skydestroyer made his way back to his troops, Sunset Shimmer called out to him one last time. ”Oh, and if I hear anything about the changelings being mistreated in any way, shape or form, I will personally take care of your legion myself. Don’t test me, commander. I’ve heard of your legion’s actions. Hopefully, it won’t go that way…” Commander Skydestoyer grinned. ”Don’t worry! We’ll be kind to the käfer like our equals! We’re civilized ponies, after all.” Princess Sunset Shimmer simply nodded as Commander Skydestroyer left. She hoped to Faust that the Germaneigh Legion would abide by the Geneighva Conventions, but knowing their reputation, she doubted it. She made note to hire some RBI agents to keep an eye on the POWs and make sure everything was within reason. A few minutes after their talk, the Germaneigh Legion began escorting the changelings onto their airships. None of them spoke at all during the process, only having short conversations when really needed. After more than two hours, most of the POWs were successfully brought onto the airship alongside the Germaneigh Legion. Preparations were made to head for their home province, in which they would have the wonderful time of managing their new captives.  As the two giant airships began to float, their escorts taking off alongside them, they all flew back towards the Germaneigh province. By then, it was almost dark, but Sunset felt relieved that her duties today had been fulfilled. All she wanted to do right now was to spend time relaxing with her friends since they were the only ponies that kept her sane. ”Ah buck, I forgot I had to dismiss my legion…” Maybe all of her duties weren’t fulfilled after all… =///New York City, St. Regis, 2200 hours\\\= In one of the VIP hotels in New York City, the Solar Alicorn was sitting at one of the desks in her guest room. She was using a machine that humans call a 'laptop' to watch motion pictures of what humans call 'videos' on an oddly named website called 'YouTube'. She was watching a video called 'MasterChef', where a bunch of talented human chefs cook their special food and give it to a jury for them to taste test. She was really entertained by the cooking show, especially in parts where they show the chefs cooking. Celestia has a side talent in baking cakes and cooking various other dishes, but she was no prodigy in it. She can see a human chef cooking what she can recognize as 'Black Forest cake to perfection without a single mistake. The core idea of this cooking show was so simple and really entertaining, it got to the point where she was considering doing the same thing when she returned to Equestria. Would she be one of the judges? Of course! She even had the idea of inviting a human chef named Gordon Ramsay to work at Canterlot as her personal chef. She could see that he was a very talented chef just by looking at it. Granted, he did have an attitude, so perhaps asking Gordon Ramsay to train her own chefs could be an option. As she was about to see the grand winner of MasterChef, a knock sounded on her door. She was alone in her room since each pony, even the scientists and her guards, got their own room.  She sighed and paused the video before making her way to the door. ”Who is it?” Celestia asked. The person behind the knock replied. ”It’s me, Ambassador Alex. I need to tell you something.” Celestia opened the door and greeted the ambassador with a warm smile. ”Ambassador! This is a surprise, but it’s a welcome one.” she motioned for him to get in. ”Come in, it’ll be strange if somepony saw you standing in front of my room.” Ambassador Alex looked confused at first before realization came in. ”Oh yeah… that’ll be weird.” he chuckled, heading into the room and looking around. Celestia closed the door, and turned her attention to the human. ”So, what’s so important that you decided to come to me at this hour?” Ambassador Alex looked at Celestia. ”Well, it’s about my nation and other nations asking for compensation.” Celestia was confused. ”Compensation? What for?” ”It’s for the huge loss of life when your country and the Crystal Empire teleported to our world. The area in which your country is in was once Hawaii and its surrounding region.” Celestia’s expression turned regretful. ”Oh… I’ve heard of that…” she sighed deeply. ”Ambassador Alex, I just want to say I’m sorry for the losses. I-I’ve never intended for my country to be teleported here.” Reassuringly, Ambassador Alex replied,  ”Princess Celestia, you don’t have to apologize for something that was out of your control. What’s in the past is in the past, we can’t change that. All we can do is just remember those who are lost and continue with our lives.” Celestia nodded in understanding. ”Right, right, of course…” she said, a tinge of sadness in her voice.  ”I just wished I could bring your losses back…” she muttered to herself. Ambassador Alex looked at Celestia with a sympathetic look. ”Maybe we should change the topic, shall we?” ”Oh? Oh, uh… yes, of course, that’ll be good.” Celestia stammered out. She pulled out a chair with her magic. ”Here, so we don’t have to stand while we talk.” Ambassador Alex jumped slightly as the chair moved on its own. ”Uh… thank you, Princess Celestia.” he said, sitting down on it. Celestia chuckled softly. ”Still not used to magic, ambassador?” Ambassador Alex nodded. ”Yeah, it’s something I didn’t expect to see in my life time…” ”You’ll get used to it, I assure you.” Celestia replied, sitting down on the bed across from him. ”So, ambassador, what’s this ‘compensation’ about?” she asked. Ambassador Alex was surprised with her getting straight to the point, but replied, ”Well, since we lost some of our territory when the UKE and the Crystal Empire came here, the United States and other countries are asking for some… uh… territory of yours.” Celestia raised a brow. ”They want… some territories of my country?” ”It’s a lot to ask, I know, but they really insist on it. Celestia sighed. ”I’ll figure out something, but first, who are the other countries asking?” ”Well, there’s the United States, that’s my country. The others are China and Australia.” he answered. Celestia was confused. ”Why are those two countries asking for some of my territory? I understand the United States’ reason, but what about China and Australia?” Ambassador Alex shrugged. ”I have no clue, you’ll have to ask them personally.” ”Of course… I’ll see to it with my government if we can hoof some territory to your country. The others? I’m not sure ye-” As she was about to finish her sentence, a sudden feeling of sorrow ran throughout her soul. She didn’t know what made her feel this way, but she knew something was definitely wrong. She could feel hundreds. No… thousands of creatures in her country fade away, leaving the world as if they died. Something has happened in her country, and it wasn’t good. Ambassador Alex's expression was one of concern as he stood up, getting ready to move if something happened. ”Princess, are you alright?” he asked with uncertainty. A few seconds passed, but no answer from the princess. ”Princess…?” he moved slightly closer. Celestia snapped out of her state, and turned towards the ambassador with a worried look. ”Something happened in my country, ambassador. We need to get back to the UKE, now…” > Interlude - Unsung hero > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Not all heroes wear capes, some don't wear clothes at all." -Cringe Twitter user =///Manehattan, January 10, 2029 AD, 0700 hours\\\= It was seven o'clock in the morning, the sun was shining and rising from the horizon, ponies and dozens of species in Equestria were starting to wake up from their sleep and get ready to start their day, but among them there is one species, a species that has never been seen in Equestria before, the race that truely implacable, intentelligent, and perhaps far more dangerous than the mighty Dragons, they will brought with them gifts that will create peace and prosperity, and at the same time, a poison that will brought war and destruction, they capable to create beautiful wonders no one can imagine and also horror beyond comprehension, they are the true definition of both Harmony and Chaos. "GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!" One of the American marines said aloud as he flying and maneuvering between the Manehattan skyscrapers with his new MF-730C personal jet suits. 𝄡 𝄞 One, two, three, four 𝄞 𝄞 I just want to celebrate another day of livin' 𝄞 𝄞 I just want to celebrate another day of life 𝄞 𝄞 I put my faith in the people But the people let me down 𝄞 𝄞 So, I turned the other way And I carry on, anyhow 𝄞 𝄞 That's why I'm telling you I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah 𝄞 𝄞 Another day of living, yeah I just want to celebrate another day of life 𝄞 𝄞 Had my hand on the dollar bill And the dollar bill flew away 𝄞 𝄞 But the sun is shining down on me And it's here to stay 𝄞 𝄞 That's why I'm telling you I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah 𝄞 𝄞 Another day of living, yeah I just want to celebrate another day of livin' 𝄞 𝄞 I just want to celebrate another day of lifeee... 𝄞 𝄡 Jet suits technology that was introduced to the American military in 2027, at first many doubted the ability and reliability of the technology, but over time both the US Air Force and the US Marines began to adopt the new jet suits and began deploying them on various missions such as anti-piracy in Somalia and search and rescue operations in southeast Asia. Not everyone in the marines is allowed to use jet suits, especially the military version that uses the SW-9 mini jet engine capable of flying at subsonic speeds, because the last thing the American government wants to happen right now is another Sept-11-Arabs-Style-Kamikaze incident, so they all must be part of the military for over a half of a decade at a minimum and have six months of flight training. And one of them who a allowed to use this amazing technology is Sergeant James Goodman, he joined the marines in 2015, and has experience being deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and even Syria, his last deployment before he was sent on a mission to contact aliens that suddenly appeared in the middle of the pacific was 2 weeks ago in Somalia where he participated in a hostage rescue operation from pirates in Indian Ocean. He and everyone in the military at first initially thought that the sudden appearance of the Alien continent in the middle of the pacific is just another 2020-cringe joke from Twitter degenerate, he never thought all this was real. But he was apparently wrong because now he and hundreds of other Marines of the US 5th fleet are being deployed to the magical land of Equestria, full of colorful ponies and magic of Friendship. It took him and others several hours to process everything that had happened, from the fact that his friends living in Hawaii and Oceania might have died and the existence of a demi-god who able to controlling the Sun and Moon. For now he intends to relax and buy some food for breakfast as Admiral Jordy announces that he has obtained permission from the city mayor to allow all American personnel to travel as far as the rest of the city. Right now he had at least 25 Equestrian's bits after trading some of his his personal items with the local merchant at the port, he plans to buy several servings of Hayburger and HayFries from MareDonald for himself and his partners back on the ship. Just like all of the humans on the ship, they all initially disliked the idea of ​​eating Hays when they were invited to eat together at the Manehattan plaza, but after pony chief Spicy Sight who had experience making dishes for various species back in Equus tried to convince them that his Hays's cooking could be digested by all living things no matter if they are, Herbivore, Omnivore or even Carnivores, so one of the marines decided to become guinea pig and sacrificing himself to try one of the Haysburger. And to the astonishment of all humans in there he said it tasted almost like minced chicken, then he and all others started to try it themselves and were amazed that Hays's taste was really good, how the ponies managed to turn the agricultural dregs into five star food was still a mystery, but for now they want some more, because the navy MRE (Meals Rejected by Everyone) sure taste like crap. As he flew over Manehattan version of Wall Street he finally arrived at HayBurger Restaurant! Unlike Burger King or Mc Donalds, this one had a green overall design with white letters and yellow-green upholstery, he could see that the MareDonald's restaurant was starting to fill with ponies intending to buy Hayburger for their breakfast, James then turned off his Jet suits because some ponies in port started complaining that the mini jet's noise disturbed their hearing, he then proceeded to open the door and started to enter the restaurant. There pony customers and employees there were stunned and some of them were horrified by the appearance of the human, because it's not every day you get to see a 2ft tall bipedal mamal walking in local restaurant while having a breakfast, Before things started to turn south, James then tried to calm the atmosphere by trying to speak the local language and telling everyo-Everypony that he was coming in peace. This is because a few days ago Equestrian's news outlets like FEX NEWS and ENN were spreading rumors/fake news and portraying humans as flesh-eating monsters who kidnap ponies to turn them into glue, things only got even worse when ponies like Beneigh Shapirough started spouting Anti-Human rhetoric on radio podcasts every single day ever since humans came to Equestria. James then took a small book from his pocket, the book contains basic translation between human and pony languages ​​that human linguists managed to decode a few days ago, based on their research the language that the ponies speak has similarities between Ancient Latin, Modern-indians, and Ming Dynasty-era Chinese Language, and to make things even better the manual translation process was made much faster with the help of Linguist from Manehattan university. "Errgh, HellO, my naMe is James, I come in pEacE, i'm here JusT trying tO buy soMe food foR me mY friEnds." said James with very heavy and botched accent The ponies in the restaurant naturally breathed a sigh of relief to know that the human had not come to the restaurant with ill intentions, but even so, some ponies were still skeptical with him, especially the Earth-Pony mare with Karen-Style short hair sitting at a table by the window. Seeing that he had relieved the atmosphere, James then started walking to the nearest restaurant cashier service to order his food. He was then greeted by a white coat Pegasus mare with a Blue-Sky mane who was a waiter at the restaurant, he could see that other other employees decided to put her here exactly when he arrived in the restaurant, he predict this because they are still really afraid of interacting with humans, he also could see from her eyes that the pony was really nervous and scared, he didn't blame her for that, looking at tall and muscular alien who has a body that has twice the height of her really able to make everyone nervous. "eeRrhhh,..H-hello Mr. hyoo-man...what can i h-help you?.." The terrified mare asked. "Can i geT a five large poRtions oF HaysbuRger and five laRge cup oF HaysriEs?, and alSo don't foRget the fiVe large cup of soDAs." James said in very heavy and botched accent. "O-oh sure Mr hyoo-man, t-that will be 20 bits..." the mare answerd "Sure, and pleAse, just call mE James." He said firmly. James then took small bag from his backpack where he kept his money, as he was unable to fit his Equestrian's Gold coins into his wallet as it was designed designed to hold paper money and not a stack of 3x3mm gold coins. After he finished paying the employee the money all he needed to do was wait for them to finish cooking the food, because of how much food he ordered he suspected it would take a long time, so James decided to sit at the restaurant's dining table and playing mobile game in his personal cellphone such as Candy Crush and Genshin Impact while waiting for the food to be ready. While the American marine was busy with his cellphone, the situation in the restaurant began to return to relax and all the customers started to enjoy their food again. Everything seem completely normal until-... *SLAMP* *SMACK* Suddenly a grup of armed griffons with machetes and spears suddenly invaded the poor restaurant and started making a mess of everything they see. "Alright you pony weeklings, put your hoofs in the air and put all your valuable on the table now!!!" said by one of armed Griffon All the ponies and the restaurant employees naturally screamed and started to panic, some of them tried to leave the restaurant and left their half finished food behind, but sadly for them the griffons is having none of it, everypony who tried to escape the restaurant they got nasty stab wounds and slashes by the machete-armed griffons. Out of reflex James then naturally took out his good old M4A5 Assault rifle and aimed it at the griffons, this kind of situation reminds him of an hostages incident that happened in the City of Qandahar Afghanistan nearly a decade ago when he was trying to buy a pack of kebap at a local restaurant. And of course the griffons quickly realized the presence of a human who ignored the threat, he and other griffons then started to move their gazes and aim their machete to James and started threatening him too. "You!, put your-..erhh.. grasping appendage in the air and give me all your money, NOW!!" the Griffons said "Ahh hell no, I baRtered my fuCkiNg tootHbrush and toothpAste to get it, I will nOt give my money to muTated bipdal chiCkenS like you!" James answered. "You dare insult me ​​you hairless monkey?!, I will cut your blasted tongue and teach you some respect!!" The said Griffon and several others in the grup then started charging towards James with their machetes and spear, but before they could get close to him a multiple high pitch explosion sounded through out the restaurant room which made the ponies there cover their ears in fear. RA-A-TAT-AT-RA-TAT-TATAT-TA-A-TATA... RRA-TAT-TA-RA-TAT-TA-RA-TATA... EEEEEERRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH.... The moment the sound stopped the ponies found all the robber griffons lying on the floor covered in blood, many of them had their organs and heads shattered as 5.56mm bullet brust through thier stomach and skull, their brain matter scattered on the floor and walls of the restaurant, even though many them died instantly by the gun shot, some of them were still alive and suffering excruciating pain as they watched their blood began to leak out of their furry bodies. All the ponies in the room froze in fear in their seats and dumbfounded by what they saw, their jaws opened wide and some of them regurgitated their breakfast just by seeing the brutality made by the human. meanwhile, James took his old empty magazine and replaced it with new ones. "Shit, now i lost my appetite..." James muttered. The silence at the restaurant abruptly came to a end as the multiple MPD (Manehattan Police Department) officer began breaking into the restaurant upon hearing the report there is a robberies and sound of multiple explosions from the restaurant. They were all horrified by what they found, 8 griffons were dead and 3 others were critically/mortally injured, they turned their eyes to James who was still standing there with his M4A5 in his hand, he at first hoping he could still can grab his food and get the hell out of there before the authorities arrived, but it seemed luck wasn't on his side today. Meanwhile, as the police officers started walking towards him with handcuffs, James then let out a sigh of disappointment because he knew that not only he would suffered a lot of a trouble today because the his superior would basically chew him alive for killing someone or 'somegriffon' in a foreign land without authorization but also the fact that he would not able get the food for his friends in time. at least this was an act of self-defense and not an abuse of gun so he was confident that the navy would be able to get him released and avoid prison time, He would rather die than spend years in prison of this goofy ass Rainbow Pony Land. But unfortunately for James and all the humans in Equestrian's expedition fleet this would not be the first nor the last time they would suffer trouble while visiting Equestria. > Interlude - Battle of Manehattan (Part 1) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible." -Mark Twain =///Five kilometers from Manehattan, EAS Torantrot, January 10, 2007 CLD, 0730 hours\\\= Inside one of the crew compartments of the Equestrian Airship EAS Torantrot, Captain Cloudy Strike came out of his private cabin and started walking towards the Airship bridge to begin his duties today. The 59-year-old Pegasus Stallion has been a part of Equestrian's navy for more than three decades now, and he is approaching retirement age at the age of 60, in fact, this will be his last scheduled deployment before his retirement, he plans that after he is done with his duty to his country he will spend the rest of his time in his hometown of Caneighda Province with his wife, but before all of that materialized he still had to remain in command of his Airship and lead his crew in guarding Equestria's airspace. For now, they are on a routine payroll through the province of Neighbor York, several kilometers from the city of Manehattan to be precise. The moment he entered the bridge of their Airship all the crew there quickly sternly saluted him. "CAPTAIN ON THE BRIDGE!" said by one of the crew. "At ease sailor, how is the situation today?" Ask the Captain "Everything is really good captain, the weather today is very sunny and the wind speed today is about five kilometers per hour, if there is no setback we will arrive at our last stop in Neighorage Military Airbase at 0900 hours sir." One of the navigation officers answered "Glad to hear that sergeant, continue the Airship path towards our destination and keep the speed at 20 knots." Captain ordered. Captain Cloudy Strike couldn't contain his joy, this would be his last voyage as an Airship captain and his duties in Equestrian's navy would finally come to an end, he couldn't wait to finally see his wife Marble Wing again and see his granddaughter Selene Light and her sister Cynthia Star in the city of Ottahay and spend the rest of his life in peace. (These two ocs are personally owned by me.) But sadly for Captain Cloudy Strike, his last deployment is not gonna be as smooth as he thought it would be, because the situation is gonna turn 180° from now on. BBBEEEPPP BBBEEEPPP BBBEEEPPP "Erhh sir, we have a situation." Magidar operator alerted "What is it, lieutenant?" Captain asked "Sir, we detected a dozen of unidentified flying objects, twenty kilometers ahead flying towards our position from our nine o'clock direction, speed 250 kph and closing sir." The Magidar operator replied "Is it maybe that it's one of the humans flying machines? I heard their expedition fleet brought some kind of strange contraception for them to fly." Captain asked "Erhh, Negative sir, according to data from Magidar Display, This object does not appear to be like a human flying machine, the speed, size and energy signature of the flying object are completely different....wait, oh Faust's, it almost matches the magical signature of a dragon sir!" Cloudy's eyes then went wide as saucers, he had already had decades of experience of military experience to know what this meant, the presence of multiple flying dragons near a densely populated area would only mean one thing. Dragon Rampage "OH BUCK!, All available personnel, get to your Battlestations! Prepare the enchanted ballista and Magical Shield generator now!" All the personnel at EAS Torantrot started rushing towards their assigned post and manning the Airship weapon system, meanwhile, the technicians and mages rushed to the magic stasis room to activate the Airship's shield generator. "Alert all air bases in the province to be on alert for a possible rouge Dragon attack, and notify every airship in the area that we need reinforcements here now!" The Radio operator immediately took up their radios and started broadcasting the news about the situation to all the air bases in the area and sending out a signal for help to all the nearby airships, Meanwhile Captain Cloudy took his old binoculars with his telekinesis and started scanning the horizon. And sure enough, he can spot dozens of dragons of various sizes, ranging from the size of a car to the size of a Boeing Jumbo jet over the horizon, and the worst of all is that they all flying straight towards his Airship. Cloudy Strike started sweating, even though this was not the first time he had encountered dragons, this was the first time he had faced this many dragons at once before, even so he kept his professional stoic face and hoped his decades of experience would be enough for him to face these dragons. Will the old veteran of Equestria's navy come victorious and be able to enjoy the rest of his life in peaceful retirement? or will he die in a brutal firey death under the face of dragon manace? only time will tell. =///Manehattan harbour, USS Theodore Roosevelt bridge, 0740 hours\\\= Meanwhile inside the bridge of the USS Theodore Roosevelt Admiral Jordy was walking towards his seat carrying his morning coffee and biscuits for breakfast, today looks like usual, scientists and other eggheads personnel are walking around trying to learn everything from the aliens, marines and sailors are enjoying their time posting their photos on social media for clout or maintain equipment and aircraft on board the ship. Even though the situation looked really peaceful, Jordy started to feel uneasy, the situation from the beginning of the contact really smoothed out without a hitch or complications, everything was too good to be true, the only way he can describe it is just like when the soldiers started to feel uneasy when the battlefield felt too quiet for their comfort, this is exactly how Jordy felt right now. Unfortunately for him, his guess turned out to be right as one of his trusted sailors Corporal Henry Watson started entering the ship bridge in a hurry, and everything started to go to hell from now on. "Sir, we have an emergency report here, sir," Henry reported "What's is it Henry?, did something bad happen?" Jordy asked The corporal then started to explain the whole situation from the beginning, the first was that one of the marine sergeants from the 89th naval battalion went to the city, using his personal jet suits, and intended to buy some Hayburgers from one of Equestrian's McDonald's knockoff. "I don't see any problem with that at all corporal, from what I hear the Hayburgers are actually pretty good," Jordy said "Sir, the problem is after he ordered his food, a group of species that we identified as 'griffons' tried to rob the restaurant while he was still waiting for his food inside!" Jordy's eyes went wide, the scenario that one of his personnel or local civilians was injured would be bad in the eyes of the public and Equestrian's leadership. " According to eyewitness testimony the griffons tried to threaten him into giving them his money, he of course refused and they started attacking him!" Henry answered. "W-what happened to him? Were any civilians injured? and why the hell did he go alone without anyone accompanying him?" Jordy asked worriedly. "Everything went to Hell, his gun went full blazing, eight of the eleven robbers were dead and the rest were seriously injured, the Equestrian's authorities took him to the local police station for questioning," Henry answered *SMACK* Jordy then slammed his hand on the table in anger, not just because one of his marines is now being held custody by foreign authorities, but also because of the fact that the marine didn't get his Hayburger. "God dammit!" Jordy muttered. "The good thing, sir, was that none of the civilians in the restaurant were injured, except for those who were attacked by the Griffon, of course." " And furthermore because this is an act of self-defense, the Equestrian's authorities will release him later this afternoon, we already have sent some guys to pick him up later," Henry continued. "Huh, that's a relief," Jordy muttered. Unfortunately for Jordy, his sense of relief was short-lived as one of the ship's communications officers came to the bridge. "Sir, we have an emergency situation here, sir!" Winston said urgently. Jordy also turned his attention to the ship's communications officer Winston Harper, he and his team were scheduled to be tasked with monitoring local and external communications for the expedition fleet. "Arrgh again?, what's is it now Winston?" Jordy answered frustratedly "Sir, we've picked up an emergency broadcast from one of the Equestrian's Airship just seven kilometers from the fleet, I think you would like to hear it, sir," Winston reported Jordy then immediately followed Winston to the ship's communications room on deck number 5C near the ship's bridge, during these days the expedition fleet force had also managed to hack into the ERN (Equestria Royal Navy) line of communication because they didn't want any possible surprise attack by the alien Airship, and also so they can hear what Equestrian's military is talking about. When Admiral Jordy arrived in the room he was greeted by dozens of officers and the ship's communications crew, one of the radio operators also gave him a pair of headsets to listen to the emergency broadcast that the Equestria navy sent. "This is Captain Cloudy Strike from EAS Torantrot, we are experiencing a Level 10 attack by dozens of rouge Dragons five kilometers from Manehattan, the Dragons are trying to attack and decimate population centers, we requested immediate reinforcements, please, we unable to hold them for long!!, I REPEAT this is--... ... *SMASH* "The first were multi-color pony aliens, then griffons, and now Dragons, what's next a Tentacle monster?!" (Author's note: Yes) Jordy then kicked the nearest table in frustration, and things started to go from bad to worse, he knew something bad was going to happen, he just didn't expect it would be this bad. "Sir, I understand your frustration, but we need your orders sir, should we send one of our boys to help them? or we just let them sort it out on their own?" Winston asked "...I think we should, they say these dragons intend to attack the city right? there are many of our expedition personnel who are still in the city and can't let the chance of them getting hurt," Jordy answered "But shouldn't we inform those in Washington before doing this, sir?" "Let them know, but we still gonna send some of our boys first because I'm not sure those fat cats in the Pentagon will reply in a timely manner, nor will politics and bureaucracy get in my way trying to keep my personnel safe." "All right sir, but what should we send?, we have two squadrons of F35C standing guard on board and five Seahawks ready to fly on USS Boxer." "Just send three F35s first to do a reconnaissance to gather intel on the dragon's capabilities and evaluate the situation whether or not should we send more jets and the Helicopters Squadron, I don't want us to use up too many resources because our budget is tight this year, Understood?" "Understood sir," Winston answered "Now let's go!, let's get it done!!!" Jordy ordered All the personnel in the room rushed to their posts and started carrying out the Admiral's orders, the pilots quickly got up from their sleep and quickly put on their suits, and the technicians started checking the condition of the plane to make sure it was ready to fly and countless other personnel ranging from simple personnel whose job is to maintain electric catapults to weapons such as missiles and bombs start quickly prepare themselves for what is to come because this will be the first military operation the United States will carry out on Equestrian's soil, this was going to be one a hell of a day, the one that will be inscribed in the history books of humans and ponies for generations to come. =///Five kilometers from Manehattan, EAS Torantrot, 0750 hours\\\= The sound of screams echoed down the hall of EAS Torantrot, an explosion caused by the Dragon's fire breath burning the hull of once the mighty Airship, killing many of its crew, everything started to get disorganized and the crew started to panic. KÅ BÖŌM ZZAPP ZZAPPP ZAAPPP... *CRACKKK* *SPLAT* AAAARRRRHHHHGGGGG.... BÅDÅ-BÖŌM Nearly one-third of the Airship's crew are either died or seriously injured, this made the effectiveness of the Airship's defense begin to decrease every second, this prompted many of the crew to begin abandoning the Airship and save themselves, the crew who were pegasus can easily fly and save themselves while the Unicorn and Earth-pony crew have to rely on parachutes to save themselves. Meanwhile Capt. Cloudy Strike and the rest of his crew on the Airship's bridge were still doing their best to try to salvage the situation, but unfortunately for them, the fire that was experienced by the Airship was so great that the communication cable between the bridge and all parts of the ship was cut off. Seeing the crew and his Airship start to die and burn by the Dragon's breath made Cloudy almost start crying, all he wanted was to have his final deployment a peaceful routine patrol mission before finally retiring, but sadly all those dreams are now crumbling like cheap Chinese apartments. He wondered how this could all end like this, he is a long-time veteran with long experience dealing with the dangers of the Equus sky, and he followed all the protocols and his training on how to deal with this kind of situation, but somehow it all failed and it was his crew who had to suffer the consequences. =///Fifteen minutes ago\\\= On the Airship bridge, Captain Cloudy Strike is checking the Airship's preparations to engage the Dragons, he has to make sure important systems like weapons and shields are ready to deal with attacks from dragons. "Sir, the Dragon is coming at three o'clock, all Starboard ballistae batteries loaded and ready to shoot, sir!" The Weapon operator said "Good, how about the status of the Magical shield?" "Magical Shield is at full power, 100% integrity, sir." "Great, how about reinforcements? Have the other air bases answered our requests for help? "Erhhg...many air bases still haven't responded yet, only the air base in Brooklyn has answered our call for help, they said help will be here in Forty-five minutes," Radio Operator said. "Horseapples...We are on our own then!" Cloudy murmured. This got the pony crew nervous, hearing that they would have to face the Dragons alone for half an hour before reinforcements arrived was not a very good sign, but despite that, they still maintained their professionalism and continued their work. Meanwhile, Captain Cloudy Strike remained where he was while holding his binoculars, his brain going overdrive to contemplate how he could hold off the Dragons, but while he was still thinking about his strategy one of the Magiadar operators suddenly shouted a warning. "SIR, WE DETECT ENERGY SPIKES COMING FROM THE DRAGONS, OH MY FAUST'S IT'S SO BIG!!!" one of the crew said. Before Captain Cloudy or the other crew on the Airship's bridge could react, suddenly a loud roar of magic sparks sounded from one of the dragons, the crew then set their sights outside towards one of the dragons flying towards their Airship, Captain Cloudy and his crew could see the dragon's mouth begin to glow a purple light and seemed to be charging a great amount of energy. Before the ponies could fully comprehend what was happening, a bright flash of light suddenly appeared, temporarily blinding them all, the thermal radiation that was produced from the light made their coats feel really hot to the point where it was almost burning up, and they could also hear the roar of fire magical blasts being shot towards their Airship. .......KKKKKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!! A magical blast comes into contact with the Airship's magical Shield, and the amount of energy that is being discharged is so enormous that the point that the sound of an explosive shockwave could be heard dozens of kilometers away. DDDDDDUUUUUUUUUAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!.... The magical blasts generated by the dragons were enormous to the point where it's were able to penetrate the Magical Airship's shields, the Equestrian's crew was thrown from their positions due to the excessive kinetic force generated, and some of them died from blood trauma. By the time the Airship's crew had recovered from the attack, they could see the impact the deadly attack had on their Airship, their Magical shields were destroyed, the Airship's midsection hull was on fire, and nearly all of the Starboard Airship's side compartments were ablaze. This made Captain Cloudy Strike stupefied and his jaw dropped to the floor, in his decades of experience at ERN this was the first time seen something like this. 'H-how?!' Cloudy's gaze kept locked on this Dragon that was doing the impossible, he could see how big the Dragon was, it was larger than an Airbus A380-800, and it had reddish-purple scales, and the look on his face was filled with such rage, and cruelty that it sent shivers down Cloudy's spine. "Sir, another Dragon started a flame burst attack, and the third floor of the left hull was burnt!!" one of the crew said. "Evasive maneuvers! lower our altitude to five hundred meters from the ground, and give the order to all surviving ballista batteries to open fire!!!" Cloudy ordered Dozens of ballista bolts began to fire from the remaining ballista batteries, almost all of the shots missed but some of them managed to hit several dragons and killed some of them, but even so, this was not enough to change the situation, without the Magical Shield and most of the Balista Batteries they were crippled rendering the Airship unable to offer effective resistance. Ten minutes into the battle, nearly one-third of the crew was dead and most of the rest started deserting from their posts and started leaving the Airship to save themselves. With this, any chance or hope for them to be able to defeat the Dragons began to dwindle to nothing. =///*Back to the present time*\\\= The sounds of explosions and the screams of the ponies continued to echo across the Airship's bridge, at this point captain Cloudy started to think about finally deciding to abandon ship and save himself and his crew, but if he did that they would leave Manehattan vulnerable to be attacked by the Dragons. While he was still thinking about what he should do, one of his crew came up to him, it was a mare Pegasus with a black coat and triple blue-white-pink manes, her name is Midnight Gem, and she actually serves as a meteorologist who takes care of the job on predicting the weather and how to maneuver through it. But that's not her only job here, she also works as a religious priest on the Airship, she helps the ponies with their religious problems and keeps crew morale high. "Sir...I think we should pray to Faust for salvation, and hope we can hold off the beasts until help comes," Midnight Gem said. Ahhh ya, everypony knows Faust, The Creator of Equus, and the God Empress of Equnekind the one who gave birth to all life in the universe, The mother of Goddess Celestia and Luna. There is a story where if someone prays to her sincerely and honestly, Faust will answer the prayer. "I-...I think that would be a good idea for now," Cloudy muttered. All the ponies on the bridge then start praying to Faust for her Salvation, they hope that help will come and help them, they hope to survive this coming battle and be able to see their family again. luckily for them, help would come, just not how they expected. =/// Manehattan Sky, Three kilometers from EAS Torantrot, 0752 hours The sound of the internal combustion of a Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan engine roared over the air over Equestria as three F35C Lighting IIs flew towards their destinations. In the cockpit of one of the fighter jets was Lieutenant Aditya Shaffer, he is an Indonesian-American who lives in Los Angeles, California. He and two of his wingmen Mohammed Williamson and Jeremy Mclaughlin couldn't contain their excitement after hearing that the three of them would be sent on a reconnaissance mission to gather intel about the capabilities of the Dragons that reportedly attacked one of Equestrian's military Airships. Aditya can't help but compare this situation to the scene that happened in the Japanese Anime entitled 'GATE: Jieitai kanochi nite, kaku tatakaeri', where two Japanese F4 Phantoms are sent on a reconnaissance mission to gather intel about speed, capabilities, resilience, and intelligence of the fire dragon before the JSDF were dispatched to slay the Dragon. From what he could remember from that scene in the anime, the Japanese pilots almost died when they decided to recklessly charge toward the Fire Dragon which ended with most of the F4's airframe bearing burnt marks and all of its electronics being fried, Aditya couldn't help but laugh as the pilot had his ass beaten up by the aircraft maintenance engineers for his stupidity. "Vanguard, this is Blackjack 0-1, Our EOTS (Electro-Optical Targeting System) is online, we'll have visual contact in a minute and twenty seconds, over," Aditya said "Blackjack 0-1, this is Vanguard, please continue your flight to the target and test the capabilities of the Dragons, the use of Sidewinder and AMRAAM missile has been authorized, report the result whatever it's effective or not afterward, over," Vanguard answered "Copy that Vanguard, Blackjack 0-2 and 0-3, this is Blackjack 0-1, can you guys cover my left and right flank, I will engage the Dragons first." "Copy that Blackjack 0-1, please be careful, don't let what happened to Dagger 0-1 happen to you, remember what happened to their squadron leader after the first recon mission!?" Blackjack 0-3/Jeremy Mclaughlin said. Ahh ya, he definitely can remember what happened to them, their squadron was laughed at by the whole crew on the ship and their leader was GangBang'd to death by Internet users when his colleague uploaded a video to YouTube where he was held hostage by one of the alien ponies. And he certainly didn't really want the same thing to happen to him. After several minutes of flying they finally arrived at their destination, but what they found shook them to their core. Aditya and his wingman couldn't believe what they were seeing, Dozens of Dragons of all sizes, ranging from the size of a car to the size of a jumbo jet flying around Equestrian's Airship, he could see the main hull of the Airship was charred and leaking helium while their crew compartment was on fire, they could see hundreds of charred wreckage from the Airship crashing to the surface of the earth, Aditya swears he could see dozen of charred pony corpses fell to the ground along with hundreds of Airship wrecks in his EOTS system. "V-vanguard, this is Blackjack 0-1, we have a visual on the targets, I'm sending you the combat footage now, oh my god they are HUGE!!!" Aditya fearfully said. Aditya can also see that the dragons are able to spit flames that are really similar to Godzilla's Atomic breath at the Equestrian's Airship. 'Astagfirullahaladzim!!, ini sih Godzilla Bangsat!!!' Aditya said in his mind. Even though the dragon really looked scary he still decided to continue with his mission, he couldn't just easily run away like a coward because he was frightened by some flying lizard, he had faith that humanity's twenty-first-century state-of-the-art arsenal was capable of defeating the Dragons. Meanwhile, on the bridge of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, all the ship crew members were unable to hide their shocked and frightened faces as they watched the combat footage sent by Blackjack 0-1, even Admiral Jordy, who was initially really calm in this situation, starting to feel worried for the safety of his personnel. Three F35s were only armed with short-range missiles, Which simply would not be sufficient to defeat these Dragons, therefore he then ordered his subordinates to quickly deploy all available planes and arm them all with heavy weaponry like AGM-65H/K and GBU-57A/B Anti-Bunker missiles to take down the Dragons. "Ah shit that thing is huge... I WANT EVERY AVAILABLE AIRCRAFT ON THIS SHIP TO BE IN THE AIR, NOW!!!" Jordy shouted. All the crew on board then went overdrive, they had to quickly fuel and arm the jets to get all the planes in the air, because otherwise if the Dragons managed to make it to the city it would end with the death of hundreds of innocent lives, both ponies and humans alike. Meanwhile, Aditya's F35 started trying to lock the target on one of the smallest Dragons first to see how effective his AMRAAM missiles are against dragon scales. "Vanguard, this is Blackjack 0-1, I got the lock on the Dragon, do we have permission to shoot down the target? over!" Aditya said "Affirmative Blackjack 0-1, are free to engage, over," Vanguard reply Aditya then took a deep breath and slowly started pressing the firing button on his joystick. "Blackjack 0-1, Fox-2!" The F35's lower compartment opened and dropped an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, the solid rocket fuel then ignited and the missile started flying and roared towards one of the Dragons who had the size of a Toyota Avanza. DDDUUUAAARRRR.... Aditya and his wingman could see the fireball that was produced by the missile explosion, Aditya then started to grin as he watched the lizard start to fall to the Earth as the beast had his upper torso disintegrate due to the shockwave generated by the missile's explosion. "Vanguard, one hostile is down, It looks like the missiles are very effective against them! over!" Aditya reported. "Good to hear that Blackjack 0-1, keep up what you're doing, over." Aditya then started praising himself for his newfound knowledge that he could take down dragons with the missiles. Meanwhile, the Dragons started to realize that one of their comrades had fallen dead and also realized that they had a new enemy, one of the biggest Dragons started roaring in fury and then started ordering the other smaller Dragons to start facing the new challenger. Seeing a group of dragons starting to fly towards them, Aditya ordered the wingman to start shooting at the dragons who were trying to get close to them. "Alright boys, let's kick these flying lizards out of the sky!" Aditya ordered. "Copy that!" Blackjack 0-3/Jeremy Mclaughlin acknowledged. "نعم أخي ، لنذهب!" Blackjack 0-2/Mohammed Williamson understood. Aditya and his wingman started locking their respective targets, The F35 has the ability to lock on multiple targets at the same time without overlapping with other aircraft. "Blackjack 0-1, FOX 2!" "Blackjack 0-3, FOX 2!" "Blackjack 0-2, FOX 2!" Multiple missiles began to be fired and started flying towards the approaching Dragons, the Dragons that are as small as cars have their bodies vaporized from explosions while those who have medium sizes like trucks or buses suffer heavy injuries and their important appendages like their wings and eyes are injured, which ends with them falling to the ground towards their deaths. Meanwhile, the ponies on Airship EAS Torantrot could only stare in amazement and astonishment as they watched three arrowhead-like objects release strange arrows of light toward the Dragons and blasted them to pieces. Some of them can't help but start cheering for the newcomers. =///Meanwhile, USS Boxer, 0755 hours\\\= Meanwhile, on the deck of the amphibious assault ship, dozens of marines from the 057th Airborne division start preparing their weapons while they start getting ready to be deployed on a mission to slay the dragon. As they started marching towards the hangar they were greeted with six Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawks, and two Bell AH-1Z Vipers getting ready to take off, Sergeant Quaritch then started giving his good old speech to his troops. "You are not in Kansas anymore, you are in Equestria! Full of multi-color mythical beast!" Sergeant Quaritch said as he walked towards the hangar. The marines began to murmur and whisper to each other, they did know that on this mission they were deployed to kill the mythical lizard beast, but many of them doubted whether this Dragon was actually real or not. "For those of you who are curious, no, this is not a drill, we are indeed going to be mobilized to slay dragons today, I wish the best from all the personnel in this battalion, do you all understand?" "YES SIR!" The Marines answerd in unison Sergeant Quaritch then checked his watch and Battle Management System in his iPads to find out the status of the battle between the F35C jet and the Dragons, he knew that this was the time when the mission should start. "Alright, we have our orders!, inserting at LZ Epsilon, Down and Dirty just like we taught you! Everybody knows what going on!! Everybody knows where they're going!!" Sergeant Quaritch asked loudly OOO-RAH!!! The Marines said in unison "Everybody ready?!!" Quaritch asked loudly. "OOO-RAH!!!" The Marines said in unison "Let's do this, Mitchell, Irons, lead out!!!" Quaritch ordered. The marines began to walk hurriedly towards their respective registered Seahawk helicopters. They began to hold on to their seats while the helicopter's engines started to start and began to prepare for takeoff. As the eight helicopters had started taking off from the deck of the USS Boxer, the marines had a full view of the city of Manehattan in their sights while Equestrian's civilians below could only stare in confusion and amazement at what they were seeing. "Mitchell, blast the music!" Quaritch ordered Mitchell nodded and started activating giant speakers that had previously been installed in their Seahawk Helicopter hulls by the technicians. Mitchell took his tablet and started scrolling down the Music section and decided to choose the 70's classic. 𝄡 𝄞 Some folks are born made to wave the flag 𝄞 𝄞 Hoo, they're red, white and blue 𝄞 𝄞 And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief" Ooh, they point the cannon at you, LordIt 𝄞 𝄞 Ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no senator's son, son 𝄞 𝄞 It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate one, no 𝄞 𝄞 Some folks are born silver spoon in hand Lord, don't they help themselves, Lord? 𝄞 𝄞 But when the taxman comes to the door Lord, the house lookin' like a rummage sale, yeah 𝄞 𝄞 It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no 𝄞 𝄞 It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate one, no 𝄞 𝄞 Some folks inherit star-spangled eyes Hoo, they send you down to war, Lord 𝄞 𝄞 And when you ask 'em, "How much should we give?" Hoo, they only answer, "More, more, more, more" 𝄞 𝄞 It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no military son, son, Lord 𝄞 𝄞 It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate one, one 𝄞 𝄞 It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate one, no, no, no 𝄞 𝄞 It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate son, no, no, no 𝄞 𝄞 It ain't me, it ain't me... 𝄞 𝄡 Multiple rouge Dragons are attacking the Equestria, and Americans have to push them back. This was not just a mission, it was an initiation. > Interlude - Casualties (Part 2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” - General Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Army =///Meanwhile, Five kilometers from Manehattan\\\= "Blackjack 0-3, FOX 3!" said Blackjack 0-3/Jeremy Mclaughlin as he Launched the AIM-120 AMRAAM into the Dragon ZZZZAAAAAAAUUUUUUUPPMMMMM *BÅDÅ-BÖŌM* "This is Blackjack 0-1, I'm out of missiles!" Aditya said Aditya changed his weapon settings and then switched to his General Dynamics GAU-12/U Equalizer autocanon. BBBBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTT!!!! "Blackjack 0-2, FOX 2!" said Blackjack 0-2/Mohammed Williamson. Mohammed launched his AIM-9 Sidewinder but unfortunately, the missile missed the Dragon it was targeting. FFFFFFAAAAAAUUUUUUUZZZZZZZ As Mohammed intends to launch another one of his missiles again, suddenly Mclaughlin takes over his target and launches his AIM-120 AMRAAM missile first. "Blackjack 0-3, FOX 3!" Blackjack 0-3/Jeremy Mclaughlin said in coms. *KÅ BÖŌMMM* "WWOOOHOOOO, Yeah!!, I another one!" Jeremy cheered with joy. "What the-, Fuck you Jeremy!, You stole my kill!!" said Mohammed in coms. "Oh come on, don't be so sad, you can still get another target~" Jeremy answered. "That's not the point, what I'm saying is--..." said Mohammed before he was being cut off. "Can you two stop talking nonsense?!!, I have two bastards on my tail!!, stop babbling and start helping me!!" Aditya screamed at coms. "Ohh don't worry, I got you." answerd Mohammed. Mohammed then launched two missiles, both AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles at the two dragons that were chasing Aditya's jet. ZZZZAAAAAAAUUUUUUUPPMMMMM *KÅBÅ-BÖŌM* "Phew, Thanks for the help buddy." "Well, no problem bro, I've never gotten this many kills in my career, this is awesome!" Mohammed answerd. "Yeah, when we get home I'll buy you a drink and-..." said Aditya before he was being cut off. "GUYS WATCHOUT!!!" Jeremy screamed at coms Before Aditya and Mohammed could react a burst of purple fiery Dragon breath shot towards their way, when both of them realized this they quickly tried to dodge it. .......KKKKKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!! "OH SHIT!, BREAK LEFT BREAK LEFT!!." Aditya says in panic. Both jets activated their afterburners and tried to dodge the dragon's fire breath, they both succeeded but unfortunately, both of their tail wings suffered from burn marks from the blast, Aditya doesn't know what just happened but he knows that he and Mohammed are going to have both their asses kicked by the aircraft technicians. "HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!!" asked Aditya. "Look at your three o' clock!" Jeremy answerd. Aditya turned his gaze towards the three o'clock direction and what he saw sent shivers down his spine, a dragon with blood-red scales the size of an Airbus A380-800 stared down at his aircraft, he could also see through his EOTS that the dragon had its mouth glowing purple flames. "W-well, looks like we made the big one really angry." Mohammed says nervously. "You don't say." Jeremy said indifferently. "Hey refocus, that fucker is flying at you!!" The dragon's mouth began to glow again as it got ready to release another fire breath again. "Arghhh Fuck, BREAK UP BREAK UP!!" Aditya aids in panic. The two planes then tried to scatter and try to avoid the giant dragon, meanwhile, Jeremy tried to distract the dragon by trying to fire two of his missiles. "Blackjack 0-3, FOX 3 Jeremy said ZZZZAAAAAAAUUUUUUUPPMMMMM To his disappointment this time the effects of the missiles were ineffective, the shock waves created from the missile explosion only resulted in several cracks in the Dragon's scales and did not create significant damage, in fact, this only made the Dragon more angrier than before. RRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH!!! The dragon turned its gaze towards Jeremy and started flying towards him. 'Shit...' Jeremy said in his mind. Jeremy then made a 180° turn and tried to escape from the Dragon's pursuit, but unfortunately for Jeremy, the F35C was not famous for its speed, in fact on November 3rd, 2019 two F35s were deployed to intercept a Russian TU-160 bomber in the sea of Japan, but the Russian pilots detect them and then activated their afterburners and outrun the F35 before returning to Russian airspace at the end of the day. So even though Jeremy was trying his hardest to try to escape the dragon slowly started to catch up with him and tried to catch him with its claws. At the last second before the Dragon claws manage to grab his plane, a miracle suddenly happened. *KÅ BÖŌMMM* Suddenly, multiple AIM-9 Phoenix and AGM-158 JASSM missiles hit the Dragon's rear body, heavily injuring his spine and left wing, the Dragon then began to fall towards the ground with a massive thud to the ground, even so the dragon still alive and looks like trying to crawl away. Jeremy then looked behind him and really pleased with what he saw, dozens of F35Cs from Eagle Squadron led by Kingsley Torres and the Dagger Squadron that launched from USS Theodore Roosevelt had finally arrived and brought the reinforcements they desperately needed. "It's Eagle 0-1 of Eagle Squadron, sorry it's a bit late, hope we don't miss out on the party," Kingsley said in coms "This is Blackjack 0-3, Thanks for coming, it's better late than never, that lizard almost caught my tail, over." Jeremy answered "No problem Blackjack 0-3. All squadrons, now it's time for us to start the party and bomb this son of bitch to kingdom come!!" Kingsley ordered. OOO-RAH!!! All pilots from all squadrons answered in unison All the planes from Dagger Squadron then started launching their AGM-158 JASSM and shooting down all of the smaller dragons that were still airborne, meanwhile, the planes from the Eagle Squadron started dropping GBU-57A/B (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) and AGM-88 HARM on the downed giant Dragon. ZZZZAAAAAAASSSSSUUUUUUUPPMMMMM *KÅ BÖŌM* ZZZZAAAAAAAUUUUUUUPPMMMMM *DDDDDDUUUUUUUAAAAAARRRRRRRR.... Meanwhile, the helicopter Squadron started arriving, the Bell AH-1Z Viper then started firing their hellfire missiles and three-barreled M197 rotary cannon at the Dragon, while the marines inside the Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk started to open fire with their M27 Automatic Rifle and M134 Minigun on the Dragon soft spots such as eyes, mouth, ear, and genitalia. RRA-TAT-TA-RA-TAT-TA-RA-TATA BBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTT RA-A-TAT-AT-RA-TAT-TATAT-TA-A-TATA RRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH.... The Dragon let out its last scream of agony before the last GBU-57A/B finally hit him right in the stomach and spilled out the contents, the Dragon's body then started getting weaker and then hitting the ground hard and not getting back up. "Vanguard, this is Hawk 0-1, the target is down, I repeat, the target has been down, over." All human personnel, from those on the aircraft to those on the ship, began to cheer for their success in killing the dragons that threatened the safety of Manehattan, while the remaining EAS Torantrot crew also started cheering as well not just because the humans managed to defeat the dragon but also the fact that they survive this battle and being able to see their families again. "This is Vanguard to Hawk 0-1, can you confirm that the dragon was indeed neutralized?, Over." "Copy that Vanguard, we will dispatch a team to confirm whether the target has indeed been neutralized." "Hawk 0-5, this is Hawk 0-1, can you drop several people to confirm the neutralization of the dragon, over." "Copy that Hawk 0-1, we will try to land at a safe distance from the dragon." One of the SH-60 Seahawks began to land at least 50 meters from the dragon and began to deploy their marines to confirm the death of the Dragon. Meanwhile, after emptying their payload many of the F35 jets, especially those from the Blackjack squadron, began to withdraw from the battlefield and return to USS Teadore Rosavelt to refuel and maintenance for minor damage caused by Dragon fire breath. As the US Marines began to approach the dragon's dead body but soon they sensed something was wrong, they saw that the dragon's chest was still moving up and down as if it were still breathing. One of the marines named Frankie Scott is about to take his radio and tell his superiors that the Dragon is possibly still alive, as he is about to reach his radio suddenly the Dragon's eyes open wide and the Dragon lets out a sickenly really loud roar. RRRROOOOOOAAAARRRRRHHHH!!! "SHIT!, HAWK 0-1, THIS IS FRANK, THE TARGET IS ALIVE, I REPEAT, THE TARGET IS STILL ALIVE!!!, he's just pretending to be dead!!" The dragon with murderous eyes started crawling towards the marines, the marines of course quickly tried to run back to their Helicopter and get away from the Dragon, meanwhile, other helicopters such as the AH-1Z Viper began to restart bombardment with several Hellfire missiles. "Oh Fuck, Frank, get the hell out of there!!!" Sergeant Quaritch said in coms After all the marine personnel finally boarded the helicopter, the helicopter pilot stepped on the pedal and tried to fly away as fast as possible, the helicopter began to climb upwards at high speed and began to leave the dragon behind. But unfortunately for Frank and other marines, the dragon still has its last trick in its sleeve. The Dragon's mouth began to open and began to emit red hot light from its mouth. "Hawk 0-5 WATCHOUT!!, the Dragon will spew fire again!!" But unfortunately, he was too late, the dragon spewed fire from its mouth and hit the rear tail of the helicopter, the helicopter began to spin out of control before hitting the ground hard ninety meters from the dragon, an explosion then engulfed the helicopter in fireball. "FRANK, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" =///Meanwhile, USS Theodore roosevelt bridge, 0810 hours\\\= "FUUUUCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!" Admiral Jordy screamed in fury Jordy couldn't believe that the dragon would do such sneaky tricks on his troops, he could not tolerate the loss of any of the personnel under his command, he then began to trash every item nearby with anger like average Twitter users when they saw someone posting something they don't like. *SMASH* *SMACK* *SPLASH* The crew on the bridge then tried to calm Jordi, which he fortunately did. A few minutes after he had calmed down, Jordy began to straighten himself and return to his professional pose again, but instead of the neutral face he usually had, this time his face was filled with hatred and lust for revenge, he then started giving orders to one of the ship's communications officers. "...Winston, Contact USS Benfold, order them to launch their Tomahawk missiles, I want them to blast these abominations from the face of the Earth!!" "Y-yes, sir..." Winston began rushing to his communications room and began relaying Admiral Jordy's orders to the captain of the USS Benfold. =///USS Benfold Bridge, 0812 hours\\\= Captain William Adama of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers enjoying his morning coffee that his colleague bought from an Equestrian's Starbucks knockoff. But even though their arrival to Equestria brought some unique things like magic and its strange parallels to 2004-era America he felt a bit bored now, because since their journey from the naval base in San Diego to the port of Manehattan there wasn't much for him, or his crew to do other than check the navigation and defense systems, he and his ship did not contribute anything other than escorting the Aircraft carrier. He heard about a dragon attack not far from the city, but they dealt with it by deploying dozens of fighter jets to deal with it, leaving him and his crew bored again. But fortunately or unfortunately depending on perspective, he and his crew would be doing something interesting today. "Sir, report, we have a message from USS Theodore Roosevelt!" "What's wrong Tom, is there something urgent?" "We got a message that Admiral Jordy wants us to launch dozens of Tomahawk missiles to the location five kilometers from the city!" Adama was naturally shocked by what he heard, his eyes went wide as saucers, he did want to do something interesting today, but blowing things up with a BGM-109 Tomahawk (TLAM) wasn't part of the list. "W-why, did the ponies declare war on us?" Silence ensued on the bridge, to put it simply the ship crew didn't really like the idea of fighting the ponies, not only because they wanted to keep the peace between the two species, but also because the ponies are really cute, too cute in fact, they all have no will to hurt them. "Wha- No sir, they said the attacks launched from the F35 proved to be ineffective in neutralizing the Dragons, they wanted us to do some fire support to neutralize the dragons, sir." Adama was of course initially skeptical of that, how the attacks from fifth-generation aircraft were ineffective was beyond him, but even so, he decided to follow his orders and launched the missile anyway. Meanwhile, the citizens of Manehattan were walking and carrying on with their normal life until suddenly a loud roar was heard throughout the city, they turned their gaze to some kind of strange cylindrical object shaped like fireworks being launched into the sky from one of the human warships mooring in the harbor, they don't know what it is and why, but they know one thing for sure that this is very bad. =///Five kilometers from Manehattan, 0815 hours\\\= Lord Koigarth isn't having a good day right now, ever since Equestria was teleported to another world, millions of creatures of various species became stranded in Equestria, and one of those species is the dragon. He and his fellow dragons are demanding that the governments of Equestria explain what really happened, but the little colorful bastard instead replied with 'sorry, but we don't know', he and the other dragons, of course, didn't believe that bullshit, for centuries the ponies have been guilty of all kinds of magical shenanigans that occur all over the world, they have always disturbed the balance of nature with their blasted magic. So he and a few dozen of his friends decided to protest against the Equestrian government by attacking and burning one of Equestria's famous cities to the ground. At first, everything went smoothly, they only encountered one military Airship in their way and they easily defeated it with their fire breath magic, he couldn't wait to see how the Equestrian princess's faces looked after hearing that one of their precious cities was destroyed. But unfortunately, when he and his friends were about to finish off the Airship and move on to the city, three strange flying objects suddenly came towards them, at first they thought it was their fellow Dragons, but if it was why didn't they flap their wings? While they were still confused about what to do, suddenly one of the flying objects launched a kind of strange arrow of light at one of their comrades who was still busy killing the ponies in the Airship. The arrow of light exploded and destroyed his back body, Koigarth and the other dragons couldn't help but be dumbfounded to see one of their comrades killed so easily. Koigarth and the other dragons roared with rage and quickly dozens of them began flying towards the strange mysterious flying object to seek revenge. But the mysterious objects simply launched more of those arrows of light again and slaughtered them as easily as they were an animal in a slaughterhouse. So Koigarth, relying on his large wings, tries to chase the object and intends to close the gap and catch it with his claws. But unfortunately, just as he was about to catch the object with his claws he was suddenly attacked from behind and ended up injuring his wing so heavily that he fell to the ground with a thud. After that, all he knew was that he was bombed to death by dozens of strange flying objects from various directions, it was the most painful minute of his life when they started shooting at his vital organs. Knowing that he couldn't hold out any longer he decided to try and fool them by playing dead and hoping they were tricked. Luckily they were tricked and started to approach him, Koigarth decided to take his last action to avenge his friends against the newcomer, he wouldn't be able to die peacefully if he didn't manage to at least kill one of them before he died. The moment one of the mysterious objects started to land not far from him he quickly seized the opportunity to attack, they were naturally shocked and tried to run away, but he used up the last bit of energy that was in his body to send a burst of flames to the object. He could feel the satisfaction of seeing the object crash into the ground and explode in a fireball, even though he only managed to kill just one, it was enough for him to avenge his comrades, he could feel his body begin to weaken every second, right now he decided to just lay there and accept whatever fate will come for him. Koigarth then tried to look at the sun for the last time, when he did that he saw a strange cylindrical object flying and about to hit its position. 'So, this is how it ends?' Koigarth said in his mind. Koigarth closed his eyes, he couldn't believe that this was how he would die, he had lived for more than eight hundred years, he had lived for such a long time that he forgot the exact day he was born, sometimes at some point in his life he wondered what would happen to someone when they died, would they go to hell and heaven? Or would he just disappear into nothingness? He doesn't know but he's about to find out. Seconds later a gigantic explosion could be heard dozens of miles away, the shockwave basically flattened all the trees in a hundred-meter radius, and after things had calmed down all that was left were nothing more than unrecognizable piles of broken flesh, skin, blood, bones, and scales strewn across the landscapes. The Battle of Manehattan is officially over. =///A few days later, Manehattan Airport\\\= It's been several days since the Dragon's attack on the outskirts of Manehattan, even then the entire Equestria and even the world was still shocked by the news they heard, American marines and sailors from the 5th fleet just defeated the leader ancient Dragon clan, lord Koigarth. Because the Airship engine was damaged beyond repair the crew of EAS Torantrot including the captain had to be evacuated from their Airship via helicopter before finally experiencing a critical helium leak and finally crashing into the earth, in total over one hundred people died in this battle, six of whom were American marines and Helicopter pilot. Many Marines and scientists were dispatched to the site of the ancient dragon's corpse in order to try to prevent looting and at the same time try to study the dragon's biology. And right now, at Manehattan Airport there is a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III parked on the runway, this aircraft plans to fly the bodies of six American marines who died in the operation to neutralize the Rouge Dragon. On the Airport tarmac are six special wooden coffins that the US Navy carried aboard the USS Desmond, there were also thousands of American marines and sailors and even several hundred Manehattan civilians standing near the runway to pay their respects to the fallen marines. The ceremony to honor and pay respect to the fallen marines and Pilots began when Admiral Jordy walked towards the makeshift stage which had been prepared a few hours ago, he then began to give his tribute speech to the participants of the ceremony. "We are here today to lay to rest the remains of Lance Corporal Spencer Walklate, Lieutenant Riley Jordan, Private Ronald Eagleton, Sergeant Frankie Scott, Flight Lieutenant Clayton Gilmore, and Pilot Officer Devin Mcclain with full military honors. These brave men of the 057th Airborne Division died in Operation to neutralize the Rogue Dragon. They undertook clandestine missions that required supreme endurance and courage. They all died on this mission. Their actions directly contributed to defeating the dragon, they bravely stepped forward to check if the dragon had been neutralized, but as we know they were deceived by the Dragon, and they resisted, and ultimately defeated, an enemy against overwhelming odds. The presence of Mr Edgar Dennis adds a special significance to this ceremony. As the only surviving member of that ill-fated Helicopter, only you know the conditions faced and the actions of these men in the immediate period before they were lost. I am sure they would be proud that you have made the journey to honor their memory at this special occasion. To the families of the six soldiers, your loss and sacrifice are honored here today. Lance Corporal Walklate, Lieutenant Riley Jordan, Private Eagleton, Sergeant Frankie Scott, Flight Lieutenant Clayton Gilmore, and Pilot Officer Devin Mcclain will be sent back to their home country to finally find their final resting place. We hope you will take solace that six men now rest here in the beautiful Andrew Johnson National Cemetery which has become a site of pilgrimage for a growing number of Americans and others every year. It is important at this time that we also pause to remember the support and sacrifice that the brave Equestrian sailor gave when your defense was tested. This terrible battle brought Equestria and America together. A bond that remains extremely close today and will remain into the future. The work of the American Marines and Equestria Army Unrecovered Battle Casualties Unit was instrumental in allowing us to be here today to honor these brave men and ponies. Without the dedication of these people, many of the Equestrian fallen servicemen could not be laid to rest and their families would forever ponder their fate. But much more work remains to be done. There remain many more Equestrian servicemen unaccounted for and we hope that through the efforts of Mr. Sapphire Twister and his team, we will be able to bring dignity, recognition, and certainty to the families of other servicemen who have no known grave. On behalf of the United States Government and the People of America I salute Corporal Spencer Walklate, Lieutenant Riley Jordan, Private Ronald Eagleton, Sergeant Frankie Scott, Flight Lieutenant Clayton Gilmore, and Pilot Officer Devin Mcclain. You gave your lives for your Nation at a time of acute need. You will never be forgotten." Jordy then moved his gaze to the music conductors and nodded to let him know it was time for them to play the infamous The Star-Spangled Banner of the American anthem. 𝄞 Oh, say! can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming 𝄞 𝄞 Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, 𝄞 𝄞 O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? 𝄞 𝄞 And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there 𝄞 𝄞 Oh, say! does that star-spangled banner yet wave 𝄞 𝄞 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? 𝄞 𝄡 𝄞 On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes 𝄞 𝄞 What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? 𝄞 𝄞 Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In fully glory reflected now shines in the stream 𝄞 𝄞 'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave 𝄞 𝄞 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! 𝄞 𝄡 𝄞 And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion 𝄞 𝄞 A home and a country should leave us no more? 𝄞 𝄞 Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution! 𝄞 𝄞 No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave 𝄞 𝄞 And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave 𝄞 𝄞 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! 𝄞 𝄡 After a ceremony honoring the dead, the Mayor of Manehattan and the ponies who lived in the city decided to finance projects to build a memorial in Central Park in honor of all those who died that day. The memorial isn't all that fancy, it consists of only two statues depicting the American Marines and Equestrian's Airship Sailor standing side by side, and at the same center of them a definite stone containing the names of all the individuals who died that day. For the final touch Master Mage from Manehattan University cast a very advanced preservation encantment spell into the memorial to ensure that this monument will last for centuries to come. > The Magic of Friendship > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =///Excerpt from Christian Broadcasting Channel, Dated Oct. 11, 2029, 10:00 am PST.\\\= "My fellow brothers and sisters... I always believed this day would come. And I have been warnin' y'all this for years. But today, GOD has FINALLY SPOKEN! Set your TVs or your radios to any other channel, and you'll see for yourself the DIVINE JUDGMENT and RETRIBUTION being meted out upon the Earth! "Yes, GOD hath shown his DISPLEASURE with Humanity, and henceforth sent his ANGELS from heaven above to punish Humanity for our SIN! For our DEBAUCHERY! For our GODLESS LEFTIST GOVERNMENT! To tear down this NEW SODOM AND GOMORRAH we have created! To smite those who dare think themselves so arrogantly above His GLORY! Even now, his ANGELS marcheth, unstoppable by even man's greatest weapons! For though you may fire your slings and arrows from atop the Tower Of Babel, you can never hit GOD! "Yes, folks, it's clear now that the RAPTURE is surely upon us! REPENT, I say! Confess your SIN! Open your hearts to JESUS while you still can! For JESUS CHRIST is our Lord and Savior, and only through him can you achieve the promise of the Heavenly Kingdom! "And what better way is there to truly show your love and repentance before our Lord JESUS CHRIST... than to OPEN YOUR WALLETS and DONATE NOW! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, now is as good a time as any to repent, accept Jesus into your heart, and secure your place in Heaven by Our Lord's side, all of which you can do for only a small one-time payment of THREE-HUNDRED DOLLARS! Call THIS number RIGHT NOW to begin setting up your payment plan. Alternatively, we accept checks in the mail or wire transfers through Western Union at this address. QUICKLY! There may not be much time left here on Earth! Yes folks, THREE-HUNDRED DOLLARS now, or an eternity in HELL! The choice is yours!" =///New York City, St. Regis, 2205 hours\\\= At night in New York City accompanied by a cool breeze Princess Luna is sitting on a hotel balcony adjusting the lens on her new HQ89-Type telescope she bought from the local astronomy shop. From the information he knows from the human digital library called 'Internet', Earth's solar system has at least 8 planets (14 if you count Pluto and other dwarf planets), She was really curious about how the planet looked in a telescope, so Luna decided to try checking it out tonight. Unfortunately, not all of these planets can be seen now because the positions of these planets are not opposite the Earth's night skyline of sight, most ordinary astronomers have to wait weeks or months to get a clear view of every planet in the Solar system. Fortunately for Luna, she doesn't have such limitations, she only needs to activate her stellar magic which she usually uses to move the moon to adjust the position of the planets in the Solar system. After setting her telescope lens at the right resolution Luna started to use her magic, she decided to try from the smallest planet to the largest, her horn began to emit a blue aurora while her ancient magic spell began to slowly rotate the positions of the planets one by one. Meanwhile, in the void of outer space, one by one, the planets are starting to be surrounded by strange blue aurora, which ordinary astronomers might misidentify the aurora as a natural phenomenon. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours and slowly every planet in the solar system was perfectly aligned in one direction in the Earth's sky. Luna quickly pointed her telescope towards the planet and began to admire how impressive it looked, she started from Mercury, the name based on the swift-footed human messenger god, she could see hundreds of thousands of meteor craters on the surface of the tiny planet. After that she began to move to the second planet which was named after the human goddess of love and beauty Venus, (Sounds almost like 'Anus'), Unfortunately, Luna was unable to identify the uniqueness of its surface because the planet's atmosphere is filled with clouds consisting of various gases that ponies have not yet discovered. Luna also moved to the next planet, the fourth planet in the solar system which was named after the ancient god of war by the ancient Romans. based on what Luna learned, the red color of the planet Mars symbolizes blood, which influenced the path of ancient human history in the ancient Roman era where it ended with the Romans thinking that they were destined by their god to one day conquer the whole world. Luna was truly impressed that something as simple as the color of a planet could completely influence the history of a species so drastically, Luna is curious, if the color of the planet Mars was a different color, such as blue or white, would humans history have been much more peaceful? While Luna was still contemplating this curiosity, Luna heard the hoof steps of someone coming towards her from behind, Luna looked behind her and found that it was Princess Twilight lying on the floor like a trash bag. Luna quickly realized that something was wrong with her, Twilight had red eyes, and bags under her eyes, her hair and body looked messy and tangled, and her wings were no longer folded on her back but were open and lying on the floor like how a pegsus filly looks after staying up all night. "Twilight, what happened to you?" Luna ask in horor. Twilight also tried to stand up and tried to say something. "Journalists...the reporters...I can't take it anymore..." Twilight said before her body collapsed onto the floor. Luna quickly activated her telekinesis and lifted Twilight's limp body onto her lap and began stroking her hair slowly like a cat. "Care to explain what happened?" Luna asked "During the interview,...the human reporters threw something like a million questions at me, I couldn't take it anymore!" Luna wasn't surprised by Twilight's words, the human reporters weren't like the reporters back in Equestria, they were rude, impolite, and impolite, and were able to ask millions of questions to the point where the Alicorn Demigod was overwhelmed in answering their questions. Due to Twilight's position as Princess of Friendship, it has become her Royal obligation to build good relations with human society by becoming a source of attention for news outlets, Luna is truly grateful that she is the Princess of the Night because she cannot imagine how heavy the responsibility is in Public interviews and Friendship teaching to other species, especially humans who have now proven themselves to be quite a violent race for pony kind to face. Luna is not the type of pony who likes being interviewed by journalists. Luna focuses more on her skills in politics such as Military, Astronomy, Exotic Magic Specialist, and preservation/security of Equestria. Speaking of the relationship between ponies and humans, Luna discovers that humans actually have magic! After spending several hours doing research on the internet, Luna discovered that she had access to magic that could make them fly, walk through walls, and even build truly amazing structures/monuments, the humans named it 'Creative Mode', which can explain how humans are able to build tall skyscrapers and sophisticated technology. (Editors note: My worst nightmare) This makes Luna start to reconsider not looking down on humanity. Luna's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by Twilight who was lying on her lap like a baby cat and started to speak. "Luna, can I ask you something?" Twilight asked "Of course Twilight, we are equals, you can ask as many questions as you want without being embarrassed at all." "Thank you, Luna, I'm just still not used to my new Royal role." *Chuckles* "That's something that's natural Twilight, Celestia and I experienced the same problem when we were young, by the way, what did you want to ask?" "Huh,...This is about humanity, I'm afraid that my efforts in building a bridge of coexistence between humans and ponies will not be enough, I'm afraid that if we don't play our cards right, it will end in violence like what happened in Washington D.C.!" "Twilight, how can you say that?, you have proven again and again the ability of the Magic of Friendship by making friends with various species! I read your Friendship lesson sheet that Celestia kept in her cupboard like an obsessed creep, you managed to make friends with Zebras, Griffons, Yaks, Buffalo, Kirin, Minotaur, Hippogriffs, and various types of species in Equus and introduce them to the Magic of Friendship and the path to Harmony, I understand that humans are a bit stubborn, but I'm sure with your wisdom you can slowly open their hearts, you are the Princess of Friendship afterall.' "I know that, but this time it's different, when I tried to show the Magic of Friendship to humans they said that our ideals and culture were too idealistic, naive, and even... cultish!" Luna was naturally stunned and confused by Twilight's words, she didn't understand what Twilight meant, Luna knows that building Friendships with humans will be quite challenging, but the total rejection and labeling of Magic of Friendship as a naive ideology, being too idealistic and even cult-like made Luna very confused because something like this had never happened before, previously in Equus, every species at least received some form of offer of Magic of Friendship from Equestria. What makes humans outright reject the light of Harmony and the Magic of Friendship from Ponykind? "What do you mean by 'Naive' and 'Cult-like'?! We are Equestrians, the righteous, the heralds of ALL that is good and pure in the universe, this one and the ones beyond!!!" "Apprenly to them we are not..." "How so?" Luna asked skeptically Twilight then began to retell her experience at the press conference with human journalists. =///a few hours ago inside the UN press conference hall, 1227 Hours\\\= Auditorium 1, the venue for the press conference of a total of 1,000 people, including 800 press members and 200 soldiers from UN peacekeeping forces. Although cough and the sound of expensive clothing rubbing against each other could be heard, there was nary a talking among the fellow journalists. But that was understandable, this is the first time in Earth History that Aliens have held a press conference. They are not like members of Congress or celebrities, they are not Half-prepared to be there because every word they say is something they never hear in their lifetimes. The corruption of a legislator or a scandal of a celebrity is a scoop, so even if they can't do things half-heartedly, they are inevitably unsure of what to do when it comes to literal Aliens. That's why they applied within a five-hour application period, passed four inspections, and wore a suffocating expensive suit to be here. Looking at the internet, all they could see was Equestria. full of metropolises with skyscrapers, most of the overall view of Equestria captured by Satellites over the Pacific. The images of exchange provided by the Secretary of Defense, the Equestrian language translated into English via Magic, and the information about Equestria and her sister nation Crystal Empire and Ponykind home planet, Equus, obtained through exchanges, were being drawn out and actively discussed through the entire months on social media and discussion sites. =///Reddit, r/Mylittlehorses sub-Reddit\\\= "Kill them all!!!" by jetsnguns 4:37 PM TDC, Thu February 1, 2029 "Jets, don't you think that's a bit much? Shit like that got innocent civilians blown up in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago." by StillTheBest1973 5:15PM TDC, Thu February 1, 2029 "That's going to be the big question of the war, isn't it? I mean, jingoistic assholes aside, when we're at war with each other we know our enemies are humans, they're like us. These are aliens, though. We don't know what we're dealing with here." by Pascals_Triangle 5:29 PM TDC, Thu February 1, 2029 "Everyone, we're supposed to be the good guys here." by StillTheBest1973 5:42PM TDC, Thu February 1, 2029 "Right, I see where you're coming from, and I'm not saying killing them all is justified. I'm saying it's possible that it'll be justified. Obviously, we shouldn't go through with it until we can be sure." by Pascals_Triangle 5:51 PM TDC, Thu February 1, 2029 "Oh, we will win, Pascal. We're coming for those pastel bastards >=D Their princess is getting a nuke right up her ass! Jets' posts may be bad but he has the right idea." by Crash_Test_Dumbass 5:56 PM TDC, Thu February 1, 2029 "Putting aside the war talk for a minute, Iceman needs our support. Iceman, I'm so sorry about Eddy. I know it feels like you're all alone down there, but we're with you. If you want to talk to me about anything, I'm just a PM away." by Talisman 7:02 PM Twitter TDC, Thu February 1, 2029 "Thanks, Talisman. Don't worry about that comment you left in my "Thoughts on recent events" entry, by the way. None of us could've known what they were going to do to us." by The_Iceman 4:36 AM TDC, Fri February 2, 2029 The same was true on Television, where political, military, and Alien science-fiction writers and various other critics debated whether Equestria and Crystal Empire's goal was peaceful or invasive. All the media, including obsolete Radio, paid close attention to this press conference. =///United Nations press conference Auditorium room\\\= At 13;30, General Ethan Newman from The United States Military entered Auditorium 1, dressed in formal attire. Immediately after that, a great number of shutter clicks echoed. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for your participation on such short notice. My name is Ethan Newman, the commander of the American military on the East Coast. From now on, we will hold a press conference from Japan for America and the rest of the world. I would like to remind you that the Equestrian people have mastered the English language perfectly. to avoid speculation, Equestria's Princess, Twilight Sparkle, who invented the method of how to translate our language will be the one who will answer all of our questions today." This is a measure to prevent propaganda and hoaxes, if they speak in Equestrian and are interpreted by the American government, they can twist the translation in any way they want. if it is later discovered that the translation is not correct, they can say they do not understand Equestrian's language perfectly. Then, not only the people, but also the Equestrian's might clarify it. Therefore, if the pony in question is asked to speak it will appear as propaganda from the other country on Earth. "Therefore, we are sure that she will speak perfectly, and please understand we are less than eight days since knowing them all. As for the questions and answer session, there will be seat numbers handed out to you when you arrive. The 20 people whose numbers I am about to read out to you when you arrive. The 20 people whose numbers I am about to read out would be allowed to ask up to five questions. After that, if there is still time until the scheduled period, those whose numbers will be randomly assigned will again be allowed to ask up to five questions." A Computer panel then announced the numbers, and the selected one showed their joy by clenching their fists and shouting. "Another point to note is that the Equestrian people do not know the banned terms specified in our country. since we do not know what they are going to say today, please be aware that they may speak the banned words without realizing it." By adding so, it prevents embarrassment for what has been said and avoids accusations against the US government and Equestria, respectively. the clock was ticking, and there was already a minute to go. "The conference is now in session." General Ethan pointed to the entrance, and all cameras turned in that direction at once. Through the double doors, a 5'3” (160cm) Female Purple Alicorn hovering in the air beside the shoulders of two American soldiers. The reporters did not show any signs of laughing, though they had no choice but to do so since they had never seen something so cringe in their lives. "Hello..." said Twilight Sparkle with a smile. During the four-and-a-half-hour meeting, not including the Q&A session, they told Twilight that the Earth's politics and society are very different from the one on Eques so Equestria can not apply their old style of diplomacy and politics. it was awe-inspiring for Twilight who is still stuck in a medieval-style way of thinking, so she decided to follow this planet's common sense as asked. Twilight headed straight for the table, preparing herself by putting down her water and spell books, and sat down in the chair. the height of the chair was automatically adjusted for her during the meeting, so it must have become frightening for her to suddenly be supported by only the chair, Twilight looked slightly uneasy at the unfamiliar height. She was the chosen ones from Equestria, so she quickly returned her normal expression to her face and worried about the angle of the microphone. "Members of the press, people of America, and the whole world, it is a pleasure to meet you. my name is Twilight Sparkle from the Equestria Alicorn Royal Family, on behalf of our country, I would like to thank you all for gathering here today on such short notice, we sincerely apologize for the anxiety we have caused Americans and the whole world. Let me start by telling you what you all want to know. are we enemies to Americans and to the planet of Earth? We are not here for the purpose of invasion, nor do we want to be here. Also we not developing any Magic or Technology to move the landmass of our entire nation. We ourselves do not know the cause, but ten days ago, due to an unavoidable supernatural event we call 'Whiteouts,' our country Equestria and her sister nation Crystal Empire were teleported to the center of the Pacific Ocean, so we did not understand the language or situation of this world at all, but through the contact of the American Navy four days ago, we able to communicate with each other, and we are now able to speak your language, tough only with Magical translation spell. As for our intention right now, which is what the rest of Earth like to know, I would like to state clearly that we will not invade militarily, including in the future, Although our country possesses a military, our military activities will be limited to defense of our country and our close allies, we will not march into other country and attack them with armed force. This is clearly stated by our ancient Empress Faust and Laws, and we cannot engage in military activities in other countries except for peaceful purposes. However, there is a fact that our country's appearance, including the loss of Hawaii and many other Osianic islands, can be said to be an invasion, we would like to find a solution to this problem through diplomacy with the American,Australian, Northern Mariana Islands, Micronesia, Fiji, Palau, Solomon, Vanuatu, Tonga, Tuvalu, and New Zealand governments, at very least, we do not intend to declare entire territory of Pacific Ocean as Equestrian's territory, we would like to determine our activities within Earth through further diplomacy with American Goverment. As Equestria and Crystal Empire Policy, as I mentioned earlier, our country did not willingly, and we do not even know how we are here. Some people think that we should return to our planet, but we have no prospect of returning to Equis. Therefore, for the sake of our national and economic survival, we wish to trade with the US. Of course, both countries must have strict security measures in place to prevent crime from happening. Our country wants peace. we held a press conference to announce our statement because we have heard that there are many voices in American public opinion that are concerned about Equestria and Crystal Empire. if it was possible, we would have announced it through our head of kingdom, but we made the announcement before it was too late. What our country wants is peace. our presence may cause anxiety in neighboring countries, including America, and even the other nations of Earth, but as long as we desire diplomacy through dialogue, we do not intend to harm any of them. Of course, it would be impossible to trust an alien nation that suddenly appeared on your planet rather than from outer space, I hope that will have trust in our country, Equestria and Crystal Empire, through our future activities. that is all." After more than 30 minutes of the statement, Twilight bowed her head lightly and then retreated into her seat, took a sip of water that she had prepared herself, and looked at the humans with a glazed look in her eyes. "Now, we will enter the question-and-answer session. The person whose seat number has been called will ask up to five questions. if you do not have five questions, we will move on to the next person." The bearer of #1, a reporter from CNN in the rightmost seat stood up and received the microphone from a nearby soldier. "Now, if I may be presumptuous. I was very intrigued by why Equestria and her sister nation came to this planet and what they want to do in the future. There is no point in telling lies at this press conference, so it must be true, if you came here in a mysterious flash of light, wouldn't there be serious trouble on Equis? if you know the cause, will you return?" "That's a difficult question, we've been discussing that in our home country, and I would answer that, but we do not know at this point." "You said that Equestria will not invade militarily by law, but from the map, Oceania is well within Equestria's radius. if so, isn't there a possibility that you will claim Oceania as your territory?" "According to the information we have obtained through the exchange, the population of Oceania is about 48 million humans. although our country is a huge continental nation from a human's perspective, it is home to only 330 million ponies, and if we expand within Oceania, we will overstretch ourselves." The reporter who asked spoke, but Twilight kept continuing. "But even if we build towns and cities in Oceania, our people will not be able to make a living because of our economic crash, A territory like this will only cause problems at home and abroad. if you ask me if we want the land, we would like it, but even if we get it now, we can't do anything with it." "My next questions will be about the politics of Equestria. My question is, what is Equestria's stance on sovereignty in the future?" Sovereignty is one of the conditions for the establishment of a nation, and it is proof that a nation is recognized by the international community. in layman's terms, sovereignty is the ability to make one own position clear without interference from other countries in any aspect. "Regarding sovereignty, we will work on the assumption that we will proceed with discussion in the US and UN on the assumption that it will be recognized outside of our country. we will proceed with our nation citizens, despite of existence or non-existence of contradictions both domestically and internationally." Why ask such a question? it is probably because Equestria is an Alien nation that suddenly appeared within American territory. There have been many cases in the history of breakaway nations that have gained sovereignty, and it is by no means unusual if the country concerned recognizes it and all UN Security Council also recognizes it, a new nation is born today. However, Equestria is an Alien nation. The appearance of an Alien nation with sovereignty in a group of nations composed solely of humans is not expected in the whole world. in the first place, in fiction, nearly 80% of alien depictions are invaders, and the remaining 20% are absurdly advanced civilizations that interfere only to a limited extent. it is impossible to ask this entire planet to respond quickly to a situation that is completely unexpected by Humans. Following the territory and the people, Equestria is effectively sovereign if it has the economic and military power to defend those two things. But if there is no ruling on the basis of that sovereignty in the whole world, it can be said that there is none. "My next question is, is there an international organization like the UN on Equus? and how many member countries are there throughout your world?" "There is. it is called the League of Nations, whose main activities are focused on building international relations. There are 35 countries, and there are 34 recognized as countries by Equestria." Many press members were surprised at the number of countries on Equus. There are 196 countries on Earth. Although Earth and Equus are almost the same size, it has fewer countries. it is indeed a surprising fact. While some historians present eyed the three letters 'League of Nations.' "How big was the population on Equus?... in terms of population, what is Equestria's position?" "Our home planet, Equus is home to 2,4 billion creatures from various species, from Griffons, Minatour, Kirins, Yaks, Giraffe, Elephant, Zebra, Deer, Parrots, Anaconda and many more, and Equestria is ranked as the most populous country before the 'Whiteouts'." Earth's total population is 8,8 billion. The United States has a population of 347 million ranking third. it is shocking that less than 340 million people live in Equestria considering its size that bigger than Africa. "Err, let me return to the question about politics, is the government in Equestria a Monarchy? or a Democracy?" "This part is difficult to explain. Simply put, our country is an absolute monarchy with a limited form of democracy, this is because of constitutional reform eight hundred years ago by Princess Celestia in order to give the province more autonomy, the same can be said for Crystal Empire too." it's very rare on Earth for a country to have an absolute monarch, this is because all of that power can be easily abused by the said monarch, the most obvious example is Saudi Arabia and Thailand, and if these 'Princesses' have godly power to move the sun and moon, this makes everyone worried that this power being abused for their own benefits. "As a final question, how many years has Equestria and Crystal Empire been in existence?" "...Since the number of days in a year differs between Equus and Earth, I will first say this in Equus time. A year on Equus is 412 days, while Equestria was founded 2007 years ago since Earth has 365 days per year, that will give 2131 years, Crystal Empire meanwhile founded less than a century later." Hearing what Twilight said, all of the Americans were absolutely stunned. "I-is that so? S-sorry, I have to ask the question five times, but please let me ask again. DID you say 2131 years?" "As for the founding of our country, it goes back to mythology, As I mentioned earlier, the Empress Faust ascended to the throne 2007 years ago in Equus time, and this was the founding of Equestria as a nation. However, the Empress a mythical figure even in our country, if we count from the time when our existence was historically proven, it would be about 1300 years in Earth time." They were immensely surprised to hear the number of years. The country has a history that is double or triple that of the average country on Earth, Equestria is almost as old as Ethiopia and ancient Japan where their history dates back more than 2,000 years ago. How great is the Empress? The head of their country must be exactly the glare of the sun in her eyes. As expected, the sixth question was allowed because it was a reply of a reply, but it ended there and the next reporter turned up, narrowing down the questions. "Do Equestria or Equus believe in God?" "Yes, our people are very religious and believe in a divine rule by The Empress and Princess in the form of Harmony, There are several religions spread throughout Equus, and the main religions in our country are very specific and complex compared to others." "Have there ever been religious wars in Equestria?" "No, not in the last few hundred years." "Do you think God is responsible for your situation?" "There is always a cause for what happens, Even things that seem to be the work of God have a scientific or Magical cause. "What is Equestria military strength on Equus?" "The annual budget of the Equestrian Military is the largest on Equus." "Has Equestria and Crystal Empire ever been at war?" "Yes..." "Has it ever won a war?" "I will refrain from discussing that matter, as it is a matter of great concern to my country." "What kind of sports are there in Equestria?" "There are many. the main one is the one using a ball. To briefly explain, there is one called hoofball, where you knock the ball with your legs against your opponent, the other is called Featherball, where you hit a small ball thrown by your opponent with your wings, and move to a designated spot, and return to the spot where you hit it and get a point, which is popular all over the Equus." "What kind of things do you broadcast on radio?" "We broadcast a wide variety of programs, including news, Music, and a variety of commercial advertisements." "How is public safety in your country in the face of transition from one planet to another?" "There is relatively little disorder. Our country has experienced more disasters than usual, and we have not had any riots because of The Magic of Friendship and Harmony." "Are there any murders in Equestria?, how many murders have there been?" "In normal times, there are 0,01 victims per 100.000 ponies per year." "Is that because all the people in your country are allowed to carry weapons? Or because of your crime prevention capability?" "In our country, the possession of weapons is strictly forbidden more than ninety-nine percent of the public does not own a weapon, the reason why the frequency of crime in Equestria is so low is because of the teaching of the Magic of Friendship which discurs the population from committing crimes." "Can you explain to me about the 'Magic of Friendship' that you keep discussing? it's some kind of super weapon? or some kind of ideology that keeps the population in line?" This is what Twilight has been waiting for, introducing humanity to the extraordinary idea of ​​the Magic of Friendship and Harmony, Twilight took a deep breath and gloriously explained in full what the Magic of Friendship was. "The Magic of Friendship is an idea, a belief that weaves a thread of pure enchantment. Like stars that illuminate the darkest skies, friends brighten our days and fill our hearts with warmth. They are the keepers of our secrets, the sharers of our joys, and the pillars of support during life’s trials. Friendship, a timeless melody that knows no bounds, dances through the corridors of time, reminding us that in a world of constant change, true friendship remains an unwavering beacon of love and belonging, Friendship and connections are synonymous with bonding, and building those common bonds goes beyond sharing a trait, characteristic, or favorite pastime with another person or group, but also includes promoting an everlasting peace, commitment and understanding of diversity, equality, and inclusion. Even in our differences, we can find common ground. Physical appearances, differences of opinions, political views, tastes, music, and more are not reasons to separate people. Friendship can also be important on a civilization level. Friendships that cross borders can help bring peace and avoid war. Learning to think of other people, people who are different from us, as our friends help us work together to build a culture of peace." For a few seconds, the Auditorium room became silent, that was until one of the reporters from Fox News came and asked Twilight an obvious question. "What if they say no?" "Erhhhhh, What do you mean?" "What if other people reject your offer of friendship, would that make the magic fail?" "The magic of friendship has no limits, I'm sure someone can build friendship no matter the circumstances." "Unfortunately Princess Sparkle, that's impossible, the circumstance is really important in building friendship between humans, Humanity is not one group that can be mixed up easily, there are factors such as language, culture, religion, and nationality that must be taken into consideration, Isn't it ignoring this factor is a truly naive and oxymoronic move?" Twilight was of course really surprised by what the reporter said, she basically ran out of words to answer "Erhhhhh, I-i belev-... "Princess Sparkle, What if they were cringe? Will we have to keep being friends with them?" "Forgive me, but what is cringe?!" "What about introverted people? Would you force the Magic of Friendship on them?" "Wha-, O-of course not, I wo-... "Princess Sparkle, does this 'Magic of Friendship' apply to all genders?, including those who are part of LGBTQA+++?!" "I...I-... "Does this 'Magic of Friendship' contain elements of communism and socialism ☭?" The situation in the auditorium began to turn into chaos as hundreds of reporters began to ask various kinds of questions ranging from the sensible to the most stupid, and some people at the very back of the crowd started shouting 'Commie' several times in the background. "Doesn't the Magic of Friendship and Harmony that you describe sound a bit cultish? What do you think about this princess?" "Princess, does the 'Magic of Friendship' apply to every race, religion, and nationality?" "Does Equestria legalize gay marriage?" "Are there any transgender bathroom in Canterlot castle?" "Is Princess Celestia's coat color white because she is racist?" "Why are all members of Equestria royalty female?, Is Equestria a matriarchal society? "Is there an Alpha male pony in Equestrian's government? "Is the idea of ​​Harmony a bit too idealistic to carry out?" "Is it because of the Magic of Friendship that we have to give up our weapons?" "Princess Sparkle, why do you use the term 'Harmony'?, Isn't Harmony the combination of simultaneously sounded musical instruments to produce chords and chord progressions having a pleasing effect?" "Is mayonnaise an instrument?" "No Patrick Mayonnaise is not an instrument..." "Everypony please, one by one, I can't answer them all at once!" Twilight answered without realizing what she had done The situation in the auditorium slowly began to return to normal and the journalists began to ask their questions one by one again. "Princess Sparkle, why do you use the term 'Everypony' ', are you a racist?" (Oh god) Memories of what happened in Washington D.C. started replaying in Twilight's mind, realizing her mistake she quickly tried to fix it. She swore she heard one of the US Soldiers standing next to her straddle his rifle and switch the safety off, he was ready to do what was needed if Twilight said 'yes'. "W-what?, Of course not, I'm not a racist!, I'm friends with almost every species on Equus, I always accept all creatures as friends, no matter what species they are!" Twilight said in horror. "Princess Sparkle, Is the 'Magic of Friendship' able to heal mental wounds?" "I-...I don't know, I don't know much about psychology, maybe it can." "Is the Magic of Friendship really powerful?" "Yes, time and time again have we been assailed by dark and unnatural forces, and each time Equestria has remained unbowed because Magic of Friendship and Harmony." "If so, is the 'Magic of Friendship' able to stop nuclear weapo-..." *End of flashback* "I think that's enough Twilight." Luna said What?, B-but you said you wanted to hear everything?!" Twilight asked in confusion "I think I've caught all the gist of what humans have made, I don't see the point of continuing this any further, I think it would be better for you to sleep and rest." *sigh*, "Okay then, goodnight Luna, by the way, Ambassador Alex said we will meet representatives from other countries to negotiate diplomatic and trade relations tomorrow." Twilight started to get up from Luna's lap and slowly started walking towards her hotel bed to sleep, Meanwhile, Luna remained in her position, her face a combination of sadness, disappointment, and anger. How dare humans reject Equestria's offer of friendship?!, they offer perfection, Utopia, but they reject it and throw it back in their faces. For several minutes Luna silently complained about her frustration to the universe, until suddenly a stroke of genius suddenly appeared inside her head. Just like a loving mother who forcefully feeds vegetables to her child so that he grows up healthy if humanity cannot accept the Magic of Friendship and harmony with their free will, Equestria must force them to accept it. Luna closed her eyes, and for several minutes she let her imagination work in drawing up a rough idea of ​​how to do it, she could also imagine the glory where she succeeded in taming the chaotic nature of mankind and bringing Harmony to earth and ushering in a new golden age. Luna opened her eyes, and she was greeted with a view of the New York skyline full of skyscrapers up to the horizon, with a hideous grin on her face, her plan was set, this would take years or even decades, even so, Luna was sure in her heart that she, her sister, and her little pony could do it. Friendship is Magic after all. But who would challenge such magic? =///Oct. 11, 2029, 10:26 PST, San Fransisco\\\= "And that is why we should let Israel and Palestine do their own thing, they've been fine this long why bother them now? Anyways that would be all back to you Carol." "Thank you, John, for the report, as we now turn away from the usual Middle East crisis we bring you breaking news on the Pacific situation, regarding the princess of the recently teleported nations, Equestria, had been cracked under pressure and even threw a water bottle to a journalist upon panicking over questions." (Excerpt, from the United Nations description of her nervousness) "Our Fox correspondent has more after these messages." "Turn it off I've heard enough." The Television was turned off by the press of the remote with the man sitting on the chair contemplating the amount of damn that was insulted. This man was former five-star General Howard J. Alexander, and by former as in he was demoted from the title to a plain 3 star Lieutenant general after his reckless behavior regarding the incident with Hawaii and his men being among the thousands lost to the Whiteout incident. He was in fact one out of the five to survive this incident, two of his soldiers, one being the pilot of his private plane, and the fourth one being his left-hand Lieutenant. Although he was demoted, people on Reddit and even in X (Formerly known as Twitter) titled him "the General Survivor" or the "Whiteout General," but he despised those titles because he wanted to be known as a conqueror, not a survivor, and staring at the purple pony or any pony for that matter every time the media mentioned one was a cursed reminder of a plan gone terribly wrong. Since that incident he has staged many occurring incidences with most failing except of course the riot of 2029 on Jan 9th, the day he nearly got his victory using the people, although he was placed under investigation by the FBI before the CIA intervened and had him cleared at a suspicious pace. That's because he and the CIA were staging a war that many feared to happen, and that war would be against China. Hawaii was supposed to be a staging ground for this war, and the day of Equestria's arrival was the day he was going to initiate such war before fate relayed him a new continent for him to worry about. And when the CIA abandoned the idea of fears of being disbanded, he himself, on the other hand, wasn't done just yet. He stood up from his seat and stared into the night sky, watching the planets suddenly align in a straight path-like formation, but he gave no reaction other than a chuckle, and finally, he said. "This is going to be interesting..." > Decision > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Every decision you make reflects your evaluation of who you are." – Marianne Williamson =///Whitehouse, Washington D.C. 1200 hours\\\= President Adam Wright was sitting at his desk in his oval room drinking a cup of coffee, he was not alone in the room, In front of him there were several secretaries and advisors from various state departments ranging from economics, education, military, and even homeland security. The atmosphere in the room was a bit awkward, not only because of the fact that all these people were squeezed into one small room but also because President Adam's face looked like a disappointed old man from Ohio But that's not the topic they're going to cover today, the reason they are all gathered here is to discuss what policies the United States will pursue in determining the future not only of the American people but the whole world. The arrival of extraterrestrial life to Earth catches everyone off guard, no one expected that suddenly an alien continent would appear in the middle of the Pacific and throw the fragile global stability out the window. Despite Princess Twilight's efforts in explaining to the world that Equestria and the Crystal Empire came in peace and had no ill intentions for the Earth yet, it doesn't mean that the world will immediately believe it and the world will return to normal and the old quote status will be reestablished like nothing ever happened. The truth of the matter is that the emergence of Equestria and its sister nations completely and permanently changed the balance of power in the world. Since the collapse of the Russian Federation due to the failure of their special military operation in Ukraine, their successor state, the Russian Confederation, almost totally demilitarized their military to reduce military spending to ease the economic effects of their recession, and also part of their informal agreement with western countries in freeing Russia from all the economic sanctions and embargoes they have suffered since the start of military operations. Because of this, only two Superpower countries remain in the world, namely the USA and the People's Republic of China, Other countries such as the Republic of India, Nigeria, and Indonesia are only categorized as regional powers because of their limited influence in global geo-politics. Equestria comes right in the middle of the time and location where a new cold war is about to begin. Other factions such as the EU are also only middle powers at best due to the decline in the number of Europe's young population due to low fertility which slowly reduces their economic and military potential, and their dependence on American and NATO protection making things much worse. Despite the constant immigration of immigrants from Africa and the Middle East and Germany's campaign to federalize Europe, this was not enough to prevent the decline of European influence in world politics which began at the end of the Second World War. The President of the United States stands from his chair and looks out a window on the Whitehouse, when the aliens had left Washington D.C, it was argued what defensive system should be set up around the Equestrian continent which they named Ekuseru, some people wanted dozens and dozens of Frigates, Cruisers, Destroyers, and Aircraft carriers just ready to obliterate the ponies the second they start to show signs of aggressiveness, with every other type of weapon prepared to go (Including nuclear weapons). Even the President must admit that this would be a phenomenal amount of firepower, but while this would have provided the best possible defense the cost to American taxpayers would be beyond belief. The Navy lost 2/5 of their ships stationed in the Pacific (Most of these ships were mothball fleets stationed in Hawaii and Guam). it would take several years for the US to recover from this loss, and even if they succeeded in producing all those ships in a world record, it had a simple problem - who would man these beasts of war? Most young recruits prefer to join the Army and Air Force, and the prevailing Internet stereotype of always depicting the US Navy as gay doesn't help the situation. People who have long retired or left service have been called back up just to man what they currently can be activated from Navy reserve fleets. Military docks across America went into overdrive in repairing and modernizing these ships so they could be seaworthy again. In essence, most of its processes are automated with the help of the first-generation construction Drones made by Boston Dynamics, meaning it only needed people to man its weapon systems that have been added hastily into its design, In some secret reports only seen by a handful of people, the ships end up looking like a real-world Frankenstein, the Public does not need to know this yet. There is also another project which was proposed by the US space force that intends to develop a new ICBM to replace the old nuclear-armed Minuteman III to counter the threat from Luna WMDs (the Lunar Moonstrike spells), something Adam plans to give the authorization tomorrow morning. With a sigh, Adam retakes his seat and pours himself yet another coffee, "So," He starts off after taking a sip, "We have talked about the alien front, how is the home front? I saw some disturbing footage on the news channels." Unfortunately, the President has noticed that a lot of terminologies he uses these days are military terms, 'such as home front'. A man who is attending the call via Zoom shakes his head. "People have started to act more and more irrationally as time goes on. We have people raiding stores, stockpiling random foods and goods, others are taking all their money from the banks, and then we have those who think protesting is the best way forward. My favorite act of lunacy at the moment is a conspiracy that the Furry convention centers are inviting the aliens there, resulting in numerous centers and several Furries being set on fire." "Why do I have so many idiots in my country?" Asks the President with some disbelief, the question does not require a response because it is clear to everyone not only in America but throughout the world, the problem of mental illness is starting to show its effects globally, many people guess that this is because the average person (Especially those living in western countries) lives a very comfortable life which makes them fell into depression, thus making them start pulling problems out of their ass. "And what are they stockpiling now?" the President asked "Grains, Mineral water, Tomato soup, A5 Steak, 5.56×45mm ammunition, Cheese, and...Toilet Paper?!" The man replies, ignoring the sarcastic comment from other people in the room. "The biggest concern is Grains." Since 2027, the effects of climate change will begin to show their worst effects on the North American continent in the form of mass droughts and heat waves. With the Colorado River Aqueduct drying up, the United States suffered its biggest massive crop failure in a century, this left the United States with no choice but to start importing wheat and rice from Asia and vegetables and fruits from South America. This is of course only a temporary solution, America plans to slowly improve their irrigation system and combat the climate crisis, for example by developing massive containerized seawater reverse osmosis system in Arizona and California. But the 'Whiteouts' incident turned this plan into an absolute Economic/National disaster, not only erasing Hawaii and the countries of Oceania from the map but also eliminating dozens of cargo ships containing hundreds of tons of staple foods that were sailing to America to provide food for their population. Someone else in the room speaks up with a satirical tone, saying, "Well, I understand the soup and the bread, but the toilet paper?." The President ignores the joke to ask, "Is there any need to worry yet?" "We have made farms that harvest grain supplies a top priority, we have people from all states working the fields and factories, and we also increased the number of food imports from Brazil and Nigeria. If this keeps up for more than a few weeks, then we don't need to start worrying about it." "Most people are obtuse." The President responds with a flare of hand gestures, "What other way can we do to mitigate this?" "Further rationing, instead of 5000 average calories make it 3000. That way, South America will come into summer when we need the next bout of supplies." "But we will be screwed if things go south, Do what we need to." Despite all the modern technology available to Humanity, Asia is still by far the biggest producer of staple food, and modern civilization needs a stable supply of food to stay afloat. "After grains, what are the latest and loudest demands?" "At the moment? They want to know if we are going to build defenses on the West Coast, and they want us to start on it already." The President gestures to Patriot Air Defense Installation 071 Northeast of Los Angeles on his tablet with a free hand while saying, "With what resources? Never in American history has so much of our economy been spent on military assets, right now, 63.2% is going straight to the navy." "A lot of people want more" President looked flabbergasted. "You can't be serious!!?." "I wish I were, sir, but Admiral Cole said that we need to double their budget to replace all the ships they lost at Hawaii and Guam." "Then we have to cut other projects." President deadpans, "And what will they want us to cut? Welfare? Not happening, infrastructure? That will last till little Jimmy down the road has a power cut due to old infrastructure needing to be replaced and he can't charge his house, Healthcare? I will break his arms and cut his leg into two like the Gaza strip back in 23' so he can enjoy the twenty thousand dollar medical bill. There is little we can cut unless we outright declare a total war economy - which we are essentially already at. Next time those armchair admirals ask us to spend more, ask him or her what he or she wants us to cut!" Adam said while trying not to offend those who identify as genderfluid persons with 'They/Them' pronouns. Literally 1984. A person who has so far been quiet asserted, "Declaring a Total War economy may not be a bad idea." There is no surprise that this person has military links. "It would let us do what we want more so than what we can at the moment. I would love to spend some more on the navy." Someone disagrees as they immediately speak out, "We declare that and people will become more militant than they already are, and I already know people are digging bunkers in their back yard." Concrete and steel sales have gone through the roof, as have diggers. "I agree." The President blurts out, "The word 'War and Total' is not what is needed at this moment in time. As far as I want to be concerned, Equestria tried their best to show that they came in peace." "We could make a word up." The person suggests, "Instead of 'Total War' why not, "Preservation Economy', or 'State of Emergency' Economy." "People will know." The President shakes his head. "I wonder how stressed Equestrian's economy is at the moment." "From the limited information we have, Equestria and Crystal Empire's economy since the 'whiteouts' has turned into a train wreck, most of their annual national income comes from importing natural resources and goods to other countries, with the loss of their trade partner, the economies of both countries fell like a rock, no wonder why they gave an unfair trade proposal, they were really desperate." Despite this position, many economists predict that Equestria will recover in just a few decades, based on the results of their field analysis, Equestria's technological level is estimated to still be at the same level as technology from the beginning of the twentieth century, to be precise in 1908. Even though Equestria's technology is still far behind that of the most backward countries on earth, this doesn't mean they are hopeless, the Ekuseru Continent is still home to massive amounts of natural resources, for example, Aluminum, Copper, Phosphorus, Bauxite, Manganese, Sapphire, Agate and many more. And who can forget their most unique advantage, namely magic, the whole world will be willing to queue in droves to gain access to this new energy source and with the profits from its exports, Equestria will be able to immediately modernize and catch up with the modern world very quickly. It was Adam's priority to make the US a country at the forefront of exploiting this opportunity and slowly influence the government of Equestria by investing in the modernization of its infrastructure Equestria so that it can become part of the American sphere of influence so they can gain access to Equestria's most advanced magic which unfortunately they can't import because of the policies made by BlueBitch (American nickname for Luna) which limits what types of magic can be exported outside of Equestria. Many people compare the position of Equestria and the Crystal Empire with the PRC in the early 90s when China finally started to open its economy to the international market, this allowed China to enjoy one of the fastest economic developments in the world. Some of the most optimistic predictions say that Equestria and Crystal Empire will be able to catapult themselves to the title of Superpower and regional power by the end of this century, sounds outlandish at first but, with their advantage of two thousand years of experience in the newly discovered fifth forces of the universe, namely thaumic law, this is not so unrealistic and still in the realm of possibility. Just as the President is about to speak again the military advisor speaks up, "We have just had word back from the 5th Fleet, they have declared a medical emergency on board." The President sits a little taller in his chair at this news, "Go on." "The report explains that the Equestria government was unable to pacify all their foreign citizens who were trapped in Equestria because of the 'Whiteouts', this ended with a lot of violence and crimes committed by foreign Nationals, one of which was the dragons from the 'United Clans of Dragonia ', they attacked one of Equestria's military airships which were carrying out a patrol mission near the 'Manehattan' metropolitan area which ended in the loss of hundreds of lives, the crew of the Airship sent a signal for help via radio, and because many of our military personnel and civilian scientists and are still in the city the navy decided to respond by sending several strike squadrons to help them neutralize the dragons." President Adam and everyone in the room could only sit dumbfounded at what they had just heard, American military launching a military mission in another country without permission could end in an international incident, they could theoretically easily throw Admiral Jordy under the bus and say he went 'rouge', but that will not solve the main problem and will still end in possible damage to diplomatic relations between the US and Equestria, they couldn't let that happen, especially during the first month since these Aliens came to earth. "What happened? Did they succeed in neutralizing the 'dragons'?" "Yes, but they suffered several casualties in the operation, at least five of our personnel were killed and we lost one naval helicopter, meanwhile, Equestria reportedly suffered more than three hundred deaths and eight hundred injuries and lost one military Airship, this exceeded the capacity of Equestrian's local hospital, the Admiral of the 5th Fleet requested us to send medical aid by air to help the injured ponies." While people in the room were busy whispering and discussing the logistics of such operation and whether they should or not, a stroke of genius suddenly flashes through Adam's mind, a scenario in which the American military heroically saves the day and helps injured ponies, could be a political win for them in their relationship with Equestria and win the hearts and minds of Equestrian's citizens in future operations in influencing Equestrian's politics and bringing them under the American sphere of influence. "Send it then, we need whatever we can do to appease our new peaceful neighbors and show out the best of humanity, this could benefit us in the long run." Adam said happily as the room suddenly fell silent. After several seconds of silence, the military advisor began to speak again. "Speaking of our 'new peaceful neighbors', we also got a report from our team science that Equestria is actually lying about their WMDs." The room fell silent again, but this time it was accompanied by a feeling of dread that slowly enveloped everyone in the room, including Adam. The only thing Adam could say was one word. "W-...what?!" Adam asked in confusion and horror. "The ponies lied to us about the existence and capabilities of their 'Weapon of mass destruction', Princess Luna's 'MoonStrike' spell is not their only WMD's, our researchers and military personnel sent on their expedition fleet discovered that Equestria has access to some kind of ancient magical artifact called the 'Elements of Harmony'." The air of confusion and fear in the room was suddenly replaced with the feeling of simply laughing out loud when everyone in the room heard how ridiculous the name Equestrian's second WMDs was, even Adam, someone who has years of experience in keeping a neutral and stoic face isn't immune with this levels of Cringe, he did his best to hold back his laughter to the point where his cheeks were red while resisting the pressure to throw the biggest laugh of his life, other people in the room were no different, their mouths all looked ready to explode like the average ISIS suicide bomber. But even so, their struggle was in vain when Secretary of Homeland Security Matthew Sayersz couldn't hold it in any longer and then let out a big loud laugh which was followed by everyone in the room including Adam. PPPPFFFFFTTTTTT!!! HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAW *Cough* *Cough* oOooO mY gAwD...KWKWKWKKWKWKWKWKWKKWKW..... "I can't believe it, the first one was 'Magic of Friendship' and now it's 'Elements of Harmony'...!" "Harm'ony mah ass." "You know, these ponies are absolute Bozos..." "What kind of shitty timeline am I living now?!" "A-...alright everyone, I guess we should focus back on topic, *Cough* can you explain to us about the capability of these 'Elements of Harmony'? Is it capable of posing a threat to us?" Adam said while still giggling. The military advisor began to re-read his bible-size report paper regarding the information found by the expedition team. "The 'Elements of Harmony' are magical artifacts created by Equestria's first Empress almost two millennia ago, from information obtained, this artifact consists of six rainbow crystal stones bearing vertices such as 'Honesty', 'Kindness', 'Loyalty', 'Generosity', 'Laughter', and 'Magic' where the six of them will choose the chosen ones and then manifest to become one in an unbroken relationship, namely the 'Magic of Friendship' if you actually believe that malarkey...Ahem, and launches a high-intensity rainbow-colored laser capable of destroying all evil and unnatural forces in the world and upholding what is the unyielding bulwark of all that is right and pure in the universe, It is reported that this Element was used and succeeded in saving Equestria several times, such as the imprisonment of Nightmare moon to the moon for a thousand years, petrified the God of Chaos, and defeating Lord Tirek who has stolen all of Equestria's Magic in single battle ...And, well, that's 'Elements Of Harmony' in a nutshell... I realize just how ludicrous it all sounds now that I have said it aloud." "Ha!" Secretary of Defense Johnny Wilson raucously laughed, throwing his head back. "Six Crystals?, The chosen ones? Rainbow lasers? Madness more than anything, I'm looking forward to freeing those shackled by the lies of that damned self-proclaimed god and bringing freedom to these Pastel colored Aliens!" "Your enthusiasm is noted, even though this new information does sound like something out of a 12-year-old fantasy story, we can't underestimate our enemies anymore, I don't want America to suffer another 'forever war' again." Adam said Just like that, any humor present was sucked out of the room, everyone in the room knows what President said about 'forever war', basically a failure in spreading democracy and freedom in the Middle East and Central Asia, more than 6 trillion dollars was flushed down to the toilet just because they underestimated their enemy and didn't understand their culture properly. Especially the whispers of the failed operation from the now-wasted state of Syria, all the way to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. "This does sound a bit outlandish, but if these 'Elements Of Harmony' were real, we might be able to use this in the project that scientists at NASA proposed yesterday." Everyone knows what he means, since it became known that Equestrian's Alicorn was the perpetrator behind the change in the position of the solar system, many people at NASA and the scientific community proposed 'Project Lucifer' to take over control of the solar system and return it back to normal. But the problem is that no one understands how, From the research they managed to carry out, they discovered that since the arrival of the Equestrian Continent on Earth, many telecommunication sensors from around the world detected a new type of radiation that was exposed by the Ekuseru Continent, they unsurprisingly named the new radiation as 'thaumic radiation', they also revealed that this strange new radiation is slowly changing the physical laws of the universe and will slowly turn all star systems in the galaxy into the geocentric system. This radiation moves at 99% the speed of light, many scientists predict this radiation will reach the nearest star system in less than five years. They have to stop this at all costs, because otherwise... "If we manage to get our hands on these 'Elements Of Harmony', we might be able to create our own version of 'stellar magic' and perhaps repair the solar system and prevent those self-proclaimed Alicorn gods from controlling the entire universe?" The military advisor said with an optimistic face. Adam and then slowly nodded, If they succeed in overpowering these Alicorns, Not only will they succeed in overthrowing the Alicorn's tyrannical government but they will also cause Equestria's religion and beliefs to collapse, this would give humanity the opportunity to enlighten the ignorant masses in Equestria and introduce them to the belief in one true god. There are other possibilities such as changing the orbit of an asteroid to low Earth orbit and making space mining economical, colonizing planets in other solar systems, and even making changes to the orbit of the solar system to avoid Supernovas and local Gamma-ray bursts that could threaten life on Earth, its potential essentially has no end. Humanity will not miss the opportunity to finally become the master of their own destiny. "Yes." Adam said with confidence on his face. That way, the decision was set. Humanity will show the ponies that they are not a species that will easily kneel to the new order that Equestria brings from...whatever hell hole they come from, shows that they are just guests here and they have to respect not just them but the law of nature set by the creator of this universe. This is the first time humanity has ever encountered life from outside the save heaven they call Earth. They are going to fight them with all their strength and intelligence, and they won't rest until they have taken back control of their home and Solar system. Humanity is about to face the most important battle in their history, where the result of 300,000 years of human revolution will be tested, one that will lead to their ultimate victory or their extinction. May god bless them, and may god bless The United States of America. 'Give birth and multiply', God said to mankind And Mankind released the steel bird into the sky Freedom then becomes a crimson bow and arrow And when the invader has broken the Man's sword He will reach the top of the skyscraper And look down on the Tower of Babel with laughter Hate and Paranoia are a double-edged sword History WILL repeats itself Repeating many...many times. =///Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. 200 hours\\\= As the conference in D.C. was ongoing General Howard Alexander was looking into his binoculars looking for his next prey scoping the deep wilderness for the catch when his Left Lieutenant arrived with the additional essentials. "Sir I got the-" "SHUSH! Don't you see I'm hunting!" The general silence, looking back into his binoculars. "Sorry sir," apologized the second in command, as he crouched to the General's level. "So... How was your day?" He asked. "Good, could've been better, so... Have you heard? Apparently, the asses in DC are supposed to reverse engineer some of the pastel freaks and their main weapon." "Magic sir?" Exclaimed the officer, as he shrugged and grabbed his hunting rifle. "I have no understanding of things like that, it's like ma' always says, "if them median pigs says it's don'ts believes its", or at least that's what she said with her language broken, but I still understood her." "Well your mom was wise, but on this occasion, it's more different than you think," the general stated, listening to the tunes of 'Give Birth and Multiply,' confusing the officer beside him. "Sir, don't you want to catch the prey in silence?" Asked the Officer. "Why would I want to do that when I could just let my prey know I'm here." "Because... It's more stealthy?" The Lietenaunt replied, as Howard looked at him in annoyance, and put down his binoculars. "There's more to it than being stealthy, sure you can be efficient and silently kill, but... That just means you won't be known for something that you did, such as let's say, for example, Princess Luna." "You mean the BlueBitch? What about her?" "...Well then, let's say I silently killed the..."Blue Bitch" and did it efficiently and... "Stealthy" as you say, the public nor the governments won't know, and the war would break out and I would be scot-free." "As in the purpose of it yes sir!" "Well, that's where you're wrong." The general then stood, pulling out his revolver and noticing a false alarm with the bush shuffling, only for a squirrel to come out just to get its nuts in for winter season, Howard then turned back towards his subordinate and continued. "You see, I would like to kill her stealthy, but it would frustrate me the most because no one knows who did it, and the personal motive that you could've shared behind it, take Al-Capone, he did it for the smiles and camera's before being caught for petty tax fraud, but in that sort of way, serial killers prefer dead silence, but me... I am not a silent one." It was then that two deer came out into the open, one Doe, and a fawn. The General pointed his revolver at both of them. "Observe..." 2 gunshots rang out and pelted both of them, thenafter he shot more rounds into both of them, with the fawn receiving 4 out of the 6 rounds from the Revolver, after Howard fired the last bullet he looked at the horrified officer and he shook himself. "Well... No doubt the game warden will be pissed over that, of course, given enough money it should be resolved thanks to my partners, now! Go ahead and clean this up, but hopefully, we got our understanding in." "Sir... You just-" "And what? The fucking army does this every time, why the hell is this no different, let the Game warrants know! See if I care, but one way or another, those fucking pastel ponies took my opportunity for a real war! And by God, I will make sure that they suffer for this. By going through one! If they want a war they will get one, watch and see Lieutenant! Watch and see!" The General then left, leaving the Lieutenant to clean up the mess, of course, one hour later when the Lieutenant was heading to his car he was arrested by the game wardens for "killing a Fawn" despite claims the Warden's were paid off by men in suits. And the Lieutenant returned to base grounds. Back in the base, Howard looked at the news of the current progress of D.C. and while the protests were starting to die down it had been massively reported that looting was ongoing in the city. Seeing an opportunity... Howard picked up his private secured phone. "Mr. Howard, how may I help you?" Said an unknown creepified voice. "Tomorrow at 3:00 hours, I have a new job for you, it involves more chaos for the President and benefits for you," the General requested. "...I'm listening..." > Exodus part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =/// ????? "Are you sure the Hegemony calls for this?" "All in the name of order." "...I..." "You know what must be done." "...Understood, it has been a pleasure working with you sir." Footsteps can be heard, followed by a mutter. "Long live the Hegemony." =///Excerpt from Central Texas Broadcasting Channel, Dated Oct. 11, 2029, 10:00 am PST.\\\= 𝄞 Let's be xenophobic, it's really in this year! 𝄞 𝄞 Let's find a nasty, pastel colored, ugly alien pony to fear There's no more cutesy stories 'bout E.T. phoning home 𝄞 𝄞 Let's learn to love our neighbors Like the Christians learned in Rome! 𝄞 𝄞 We know we ought to hate 'em; they're different, you see 𝄢 𝄞 We've seen they're mean and ugly on movies and TV 𝄢 𝄞 The folks that ought to know have told us how it's got to be 𝄞 𝄞 The gospel truth is found in scenes from Alien and V 𝄞 𝄞 Let's wipe out any lifeform that seems to be a threat 𝄢 We'll serve 'em up a genocide they never will forget! 𝄞 𝄞 'Cause if we miss a couple, they'll breed a couple more 𝄢 And soon we'll all be hating twice as many as before! 𝄞 𝄞 You see aliens can never be as good as humankind 𝄞 𝄞 A more delightful race than us you'll never ever find! 𝄢 𝄞 So step aside you pastel ponies, we're ready for your worst! 𝄞 𝄞 We know you want to beat us! enslave us and defeat us!! 𝄢 𝄞 Oppress us and browbeat us, unless we get you first!!! 𝄢 𝄡 =///Geneighva, Sweetzrland province, Dated Oct. 11, 2029, 10:10 am PST \\\= In the northwestern part of the Ekuseru continent, there is a small, peaceful city, the city has no economic or strategic importance, it's just a city that happens to be located near the Rhoneigh River. The thing that makes this city different from other cities in Equestria is that this city and the entire Sweetzland Province are neutral areas and are the center of international politics and also the home of the League of Nations headquarters. More than three hundred creatures of various species lived in the city and the surrounding area during the end of the century for work and various international economic and political activities. Unfortunately for the city's residents (specifically non-ponies), everything turns into crashing down harder than a Kobe Bryant helicopter. =///Pan-Griffonia Empire Embassy, 1200 hours\\\= Ambassador Alfort Hammer is sprinting across the embassy hallway while carrying a large stack of documents in his claws, he was very careful in carrying it because what was in the document would determine the fate of millions of people, not only Griffons but also dozens of other species that are unfortunately trapped on...Earth. (Isn't he a bit familiar?) The name of the planet is strange, it sounds like another word for "Dirt" but Alfort wouldn't complain, at least the name of the planet is not based on the name of the most populous species. (The name 'Equus' comes from the word 'Equine' or Horse.) Anyway as he started walking towards the embassy hall one of the security staff members approached him. " Mr. Ambassador, all sensitive data stored in the Embassy has been packed and transported to a safe place on the evacuation airship." The Ambassador breathed in relief, they didn't want their country's secrets and sensitive data to fall into the hoofs of the Equestria government, because it was impossible for them to handle the political fallout that would occur if these secret documents were leaked to the public. "Good, tell the GI'O director, to burn anything that can't be carried, I don't want to leave even a trace left for RBI to get their hoofs on." "Yes sir." The griffon and rushed off to inform the director. Alfort then continued his journey, he went to his study and put all the important documents he would need into his suitcase, and took the last sip of his coffee before going to the basement. When he arrived in front of the gate of his country's embassy, ​​he could see that the front porch of the embassy was filled with discarded papers and other items that had been thrown out of the embassy's windows. Things only got worse when he was outside the courtyard of the building, all the non-pony residents in the city went full MAD-MAX while social order collapsed and the Equestrian military announced a lockdown order for the entire country, everypony, everygriffon, everyminotaur, everykirin, everycentaur, everyzebra, everybear, everypenguin is basically on their own. In the first second when Princess Celestia announced what happened over the radio a few days ago regarding the 'Whiteouts,' all creatures fell into a state of shock, fear, and hysteria after realizing that the entire Ekuseru continent was suddenly stranded in an Alien world and they are now unable to contact their home country for help, they are basically trapped. Things got even worse when a group of dragons from the United Clans of Dragonia decided to make a fool out of themselves by attacking their biggest city in Equestria, Manehatten, news of the attack spread like wild fire throughout Equestria, and thanks to the efforts of news stations such as ENN and FEXNEWS in spreading misinformation the levels of xenophobia skyrocket to the point where the number of cases of violence against non-ponies is higher than the Burj Khaliva. What is now remembered as the "Manehattan incident" subsequently changed the behavior of Equestrian government towards all non-ponies drastically, because only a few hours after the incident dozens of EAF soldiers surrounded and then stormed the UCD embassy building and detained all the dragons inside, the self-proclaimed Princess of defense then announced a detention order against all UDC citizens in Equestria and relocated them all to "Family-Friendly Camps" in Germaneigh. Anyway, after twenty minutes of walking from his base, Alfort finally arrived at his destination, namely the headquarters building for the League of Nations, by the time he got inside he could see all his staff members also running here and there in panic, just like what was happening throughout the city. When he arrived at the front door of the conference room he was greeted by a kirin with a blue coat and snow white hair who was wearing a dress similar to ancient Chinese traditional clothing, the kirin faced Alfort and shouted. "You're late..." said by the Kirin "Sorry, it's just a very exhausting day." Alfort answerd The kirin's name is Night Frost, she is the Empire of Kiria's representative to the League of Nations. Night Frost just rolls her eyes, he says it like he is the only one who has to suffer from this mess, but that doesn't matter now, the important thing now is the object that Alfort is currently carrying because it contains the key to third hope and salvation. "Did you bring the documents?" Night Frost asked It took Alfort a few seconds to understand what he meant, he lifted the suitcase he was holding and proudly showed it to the female kirin. "Yes, all the intelligence data we need to end Equestria's political monopoly and guide us to the path for our nations and species." The Kirin nodded in relive, finally, after almost two weeks of chaos, confusion, and desperation they finally found a glimpse of hope. "That's great, I spend all of my political leverage just to make everyone agree to attend this conference, you better not screw up!" Albert nodded and he then walked towards the door of the conference room, as he opened the door he found the entire room in a state of uproar and chaos, with dozens of representatives from dozens of countries and species such as Zebra, Donkey, Centaurs, Camels, Yetis, and Kiwis shouted and pointed fingers at each other while continuously throwing objects that they could reach. Before Alfort can say anything to everyone in the room to calm down he is greeted by a pair of shoes... Wait, shoes? A pair of large shoes made of synthetic rubber hit Alfort in the face, causing him to fall to the building's tiled floor, before he even recovered another shoe hit him again and this time it was bigger than before, from the looks of it it's made for Yeti foot. Night Frost meanwhile could only stare in shock at such an uncivilized attack against her Griffon colleague. "What in the name of Concord is goi-" She had no chance to finish her sentences as several other objects such as shoes, books, and vases flew towards her face. Lucky for Night Frost she managed to timely activate her magic and cast an energy shield spell in front of her which stopped all the items from hitting her face. "What the buck are you thinking? are you all mad? Attacks on foreign delegations are a violation of international law!" The kirin shouted "Pfftt..! Really now!? Like all of that is matter right now." Night Frost turned towards the origin of the sound and found a Minotaur standing right next to her left, his name was Iron Florelis, and he is an 8-foot-tall Minotaur with black fur and gray horns, he was the representative of the Republic of Asteron and what remains of the Minotaur race. "Wha-..of course it was matter! it's the founding block of the international community which was signed by all countries in Equ-" "Which sadly no longer exists..." Floralis said coldly The room suddenly went silent, for several seconds, no one in the room dared to speak at all until the representative of the Giraffe Kingdom decided to start yapping. "Ehh actually, technically our country still exists, yes, we lost our homeland but we still have control over the land around our embassy and also our-" "The land that is about to be confiscated by that bastard and her self-proclaimed title as princess of 'defense' just like she did to the Dragonians Embassy!!!" The conference room once again went silent again, but this time no one dared to answer back, this is because no matter how hard they tried to keep the facade of denying it, what Minatour said was true. *Cough* "That's why *Cough* I ask Night Frost to bring all your shitty ass here to improve our shitty situation and allow us an opportunity to not only rebuild but also thrive in this new world." Everyone in the room turned their gazes towards Alfort who was still trying to recover and stand up after being thrown with a shoe right in his face. "Oh really? How are you gonna do that chicken guy? Harvesting the power from the Magic of friendship and hoping Celestia will donate us some land?" Everybody in the room cringed at that prospect. This made Alfort grit his teeth, the Alicorns (especially Celestia) are the most hated beings in Griffondkind's history, all of the problems their civilization suffered were directly or indirectly caused by her. "Don't mention her name! I would rather be dead than to beg desperately for mercy in front of her!" "So what is your plan then huh? Hopefully, it's not gonna be a disaster like 0422 special military operation?" Floralis said mockingly "You son of a bitc-.. "ALGRIHT STOP!!! Night Frost interjects to prevent the two of them from fighting each other and creating even more political incidents. "I know you are all angry and upset about what happened, but just because we lost our home country doesn't give us a reason to start to fight with each other, sit down and talk about it like proper civilized people should!" ... ... "You made yourself sound like an Equestrian." Said by Zebra representative "DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME WITH THEM YOU DISCOUNTED HORSE! My species is more different than theirs!" Night Frost said calmly after a brief shout to the Zebrican. "Whatever... But you're kind of right, so fine then, let's sit down like 'civilized' creatures and hear what chickens have to say." All species in the room nodded and began to sit back in their respective seats because the real political talk is about to begin, the ones that would determine the fate of their species' future. =///Fifteen minutes later\\\= After the chaotic order, everyone in the room sat down in their respective places and prepared to discuss peacefully. Ambassador Alfort began to open his suitcase which contained several important documents and then placed it on the table for everyone to see. "What is it?" Floralis asked "My plants on how we can survive and rebuild in this new world." Alfort answered Alfort took one of the documents and started reading it. "Two weeks ago, precisely on December 7 2007 at 8 pm local time, suddenly all flash of light engulfed the entire Ekuseru continent and mysteriously brought the two countries of Equestria and the Crystal Empire to a new worl-" *Slamp* Yeti represents slam the table. "Cut the crap dude! we all already know that, just tell us about your plan on how we can survive this mess before those ponies begin to send our people to those re-education camps!" Everyone in the room was taken aback by that statement, because a few days ago, Equestria suddenly announced the existence of the 6th Alicorn, not long after, suddenly there was a mass arrest of changeling infiltrators throughout Equestria and the Crystal Empire. They don't know how they did it but what they worry about is what happens to the changeling prisoners after they are caught, because from rumors they heard Equestria sent them to a facility for 're-education' where they were subject to murder, beatings, extrajudicial punishment, brutal treatment, slavery, medical experiments, starvation ratios, poor medical treatment, cannibalism, and even necrophilia. Everyone in that room who was constantly being overburdened with their positions as representatives of their respective countries of origin originally brushed said rumors without a second thought, believing it to be little more than hollow threats made to maintain stability, similar to the way a mother would tell stories of boogeyman to get their children to behave, or blatant character assassination spoken from disgruntled ex-nobel to turn the public opinion against the new Alicorn princess. To their horror, the rumors were true, EVERY. LAST. ONE. OF. THEM. They had only learned the truth recently, thanks to valiant efforts made by agents from GI'O (Griffonian Intelligence Organization) who managed to infiltrate a number of these 're-education' camps and steal their prison archives, they even managed to free several land changelings who were in that place. The level of abuse and pain the Changelings have to suffer can make even Jeffrey Edward Epstein cringing. Meanwhile, everyone in the room began to panic as fears and paranoia began to take over their minds. "Calm your heads down people! I know it was very unexpected for ponies to do something like...this, but as Floralis said before, it's only a matter of time for Equestrians to knock on our embassy door and arrest our remaining citizens, but I know a way out of this." Alfort said to everyone. "What do you propose then?" The Yeti asked "I proposed an evacuation plan, Operation Exodus, basically, we pack all of our things and get out of this country as fast as possible." ... ... ... "What the Frak?" "Are you crazy?" "How?" "Are you mad?" "How can we do that?" "What a mad lad." "SHUT UP, SHUT UP!! I know this is a bit crazy but it's the only option we have, if we stay here the Equestrians will definitely imprison us in these camps!" "Even so, where are we supposed to go? are you gonna expect us to blindly sail into the sea?" "No, of course not, that's why I'm gonna show y'all this thing." "A few days ago I managed to send agents to Manhattan to inflate the scientific Equestrians team responsible for first contact with this native world, they managed to retrieve some sensitive information and items that would be critical for us in navigating this world." Everyone in the room looked amazed and even more amazed by the map, why? because the map looks really high quality, and really detailed, showing the positions of continents, cities, mountains, and rivers in detail that would have been impossible for mapmakers from their home countries to reproduce, high-quality maps like this were usually placed only for military and political purposes The fact that GI'O was able to successfully obtain something like this from civilian scientists is truly impressive and baffling. "This world is really big, it has more than five major land masses, from east to west, and the largest continent here is almost twice the size of the continent of Griffonia behind on Equus." All the creatures in the room could only be stunned in astonishment, such a huge continent would be a paradise for any species that managed to lay claim to it. It's not just how much space for living and giving birth can be provided, the continent would surely be filled with millions of hectares of fertile, resource-rich land capable of turning the poorest country into the richest country in the world. (Except Africa) In fact, this is how Equestria became truly prosperous and rich, they control one of the largest land masses in the world which is truly fertile and rich in natural resources. "Even so, this world is only inhabited by one sentient species, from the information their intelligence agents call themselves 'Humans', they have no concept or knowledge of how to access active or even passive magic, they are also weaker and have an inferior body structure compared us." Alfort then placed several photo clips containing human images on the conference table, all the species in the room simultaneously tried to look at the photo with curious expressions and wanted to know how this new species looked. Everyone except Centaur and Minotaur, where they look at photos of humans with disgust, the humans in the photos look like weird mockeries of their own species. To them, this pathetic-looking ape looks really malnourished and weak compared to their species. "Then what idea do you have huh? Is we will shamefully go to them and beg them to give us their land?" "Of course not morons, as I said before they don't have the ability or knowledge of how to use even the weakest basic magic, this makes them easy prey for our troops to attack-" *Slamp* "Are you telling me that all this time you brought us all to this conference room just to listen to your crazy plans to invade and conquer this new world? Are you ?" Hipporifian Princess Skystar said loudly. All the species in the room began to whisper among each other about whether continuing to listen to Alfort's plan was a good or bad idea. Alfort meanwhile was really furious, couldn't they see the golden opportunity he presented?? he would not relent and let this opportunity of a lifetime slip from his claws. "This is for the greater good! Our species is dying and we will all be doomed if we stay here too long, our people need land, resources, slav-...cheap labor to survive! Besides, look at the bright side, we can teach them magic and tutor them on how to become proper civilized beings because if the information my agent sent is correct, this species is truly barbaric and warmongering! they split their own species into dozens and even hundreds of different factions and kingdoms that were constantly at war with each other for resources and territory!" Everyone in the room gasped in horror, they were familiar with the concept where the same species decided to differentiate themselves into different clans and kingdoms, in fact, all other species on Equus experience this, but this concept is now considered outdated, backward, and even barbaric because in the current era all the species in Equus have united into a legitimate country based on their respective species. "B-but... there is gotta be a different way! we can't just conquer the new species we just discovered!" "There is no other way!, follow my plan or you will stay here to be captured by the Equestrians!." The Hippogrifian Princess could only stand there in astonishment and outrage as all the other species in the room began to nod in agreement with Alfort's argument, especially Ambassadors from Macawia and Centuria, for them this is an extraordinary opportunity to gain something new to them is free real estate. "Sorry, but can I have a question?" Yayakistan ambassador asked "Yes?" "If we agree and join in your plan, can you explain how we will do it? We don't have weapons, supplies, or even transportation for us to use to invade and conquer them. yeah, these humans are indeed weak and backward, but we still need a fully equipped army to keep them subjugated." Alfort was evilly grinded, he knew exactly where they could find the material they needed for their quest to conquer them, Besides, the ponies won't mind if they borrowed some of their toys. "Don't worry, I know perfectly well where we can get everything we need." Alfort said with cringe villainous grins =///Macintosh Mountain, 2200 hours, central Equestria\\\= it's a peaceful night in central Equestria, the stars are shining, the animals are sleeping, and the earth's moon is brightly illuminating the Ekuseru night sky with all of its glory, but unfortunately, this will not last long as several creatures of various species quietly walk through the forest towards one of the Equestrians Military supply depots. 'Why?' someone may ask, well because if you intend to invade and subjugate a new species that lives thousands of kilometers away you will sometimes need something like a weapon, food supplies, and other necessary things that will be critical in any military campaign. Previously, all of the native species on Equus were individually able to supply their citizens with all of these critical resources by importing them from their respective countries of origin. But because they were now cut off from contact with their home country, the League of Nations species needed an alternative source to obtain all the goods they needed to conquer the earth and its 'primitive' inhabitants. That's what Raggedy Randy and one hundred and twenty special forces of various species will do, they received assignments from their respective bases to cooperate in a mission which was humorously named Operation "Permanent Borrow " where they will basically try to attack military supply bases to loot and steal the weapons and supplies they need before fleeing Ekuseru continent. They weren't the only group undertaking this mission, dozens of similar groups executed the same operation throughout Equestria and even in the Crystal Empire. "For a base that is supposed to house thousands of weapons units and tens of tons of food supplies, this place is truly under-defended." A Griffon named Raggedy Randy said "Yeah, I only managed to spot eight guards at the front gate and watch tower, do you think there will be more inside the building?" his friend Chuck said (I'm a bit lazy looking for original characters lately) "Doubt it, those ponies are really naive in all aspects including the military, I'm willing to bet there will only be two or three guards on duty at the armory." While the two of them were talking and talking, one of the radio griffins on their team informed the commander that they had orders from HQ to gather and debrief their mission before launching the operation in unison. "Alright everyone listens up, we finally get orders from HQ to begin operations, we will split up into three groups, group A will attack the front gate and distract the guards, and then groups B and C will sneak through the forest to the east and west of the base, group B will prioritize transporting weapons and meanwhile group C will be tasked with transporting food supplies, are there any questions??" ... ... "I think that means no, Raggedy you will lead the answer with group B, and Chuck you will be in charge of group C, is that understood?" "YES SIR." Everyone said in unison "Good, don't consider this mission trivial, the future of our species depends on the success of this operation so don't let anyone fail, now let's move!" "It's Chuck time!" Raggedy and his colleagues immediately followed their commander's orders and immediately stealthily maneuvered towards the eastern part of the base, but while they were there they were blocked by a cement wall that encircled the entire base. "Holy Spirit, we need something big and heavy to penetrate walls this thick." One of Zebra's special forces said Raggedy started to put his claws on his cheeks, he thought about how he could find something/someone who could destroy this wall because from what he remembered, Equestrian cement was always enchanted so that ordinary tools wouldn't be able to easily penetrate it, until a stroke of genius suddenly appeared in his head. Raggedy then looked back at the team he was currently leading and looked for a specific species that would be perfect for this task. "You!" Raggedy said while pointing his claw toward the nearest Yaks. "Me?" the Yak asked "Yes, you Yakistan guy, I need you to use your punching power to break through this wall." "I have a name you know?" "Whatever, but can you do it?" "Hmm, maybe... let me try." The Yak began to back off to gain momentum and prepare his ramming position, he focused his magic energy on the front of his skull to stiffen his head so that he could penetrate the wall without suffering any injuries at all. After a few seconds of getting ready the Yak launched itself toward the wall, with a heavy blow the Yaks broke through the walls of the base and left a large hole in the middle, everyone on the team began to cheer at this extraordinary sight, but instead of stopping the Yak continued dashing towards the next wall and produced the same result, wall after wall without any stopping, he continued to penetrate deeper and deeper into the base. Raggedy then grinned happily, he began to order the troops in his team to enter and pass through the hole into the base, Now what they need to do is navigate to the Arsenal room. =///Meanwhile, in the armory room\\\= In the armory room of Equestria's military supply depot, there are three ponies, two of them are stallions and one is a mare, the three of them are close friends, they have known each other since they were in kindergarten, their friendship has strengthened since they started joining the military together and got relatively easy jobs. Even though the job of guarding a base in bum-fuck nowhere is really boring, they still continue their work faithfully, because Princess Twilight said during one of her speeches that made her famous was that with the power of friendship, everypony will always be able to face every challenge that exists in the universe and these three ponies took those words to their hearts. It's only a matter of time before their friendship begins to face tests. "Hah, take that you goobers." said by mare named Midnight Swing as she put all of her cards on the table, showing that she had all the main cards she needed to directly win the card game. "Aww come on, how can you win this game continuously?" Her friend Silversaber said sadly while seeing that all the money he put on the table was taken by his friend, that's included in the rent for this month. "Mmffh, I bet she's cheating!" her other friend named Bronzehelm said. "What? Of course not! I won because I'm really good at this game, besides it's shown in my cutie mark." Midnight Swing then showed her flank and showed off her cutie mark which depicted a poker card and a Crescent moon. "Meh whatever, have you heard the rumor that went around a few days ago that Princess Twilight is a ga-.." *BAM* Bronzehelm, unfortunately, couldn't finish his words as the three-meter-tall Yak suddenly crashed through the front door of the armory which blew hundreds of rock fragments towards the three ponies, before the three of them could recover from the shock, dozens of creatures from various species entered the room pointing their weapons at the three poor ponies. "Alright everypony hooves in the air!!" Raggedy said The three-guard ponies, fearing for their lives, immediately complied and raised their two hoofs in the air, something that made Raggedy and his companions smile with satisfaction. "Alright now I want you to take off your helmets, go outside and dig your own graves with them." Everyone in the room was gawking in shock at what they had just heard, the aspect of digging your own grave and dying in horrible death is truly disturbing and psychopathic. "Huh...Dude t-that's kind of dark, are you sur-" One of the Kirin soldiers asked "Shut up! there's enough cutesy gay friendship crap in this fanfic I think we all need." Raggedy then redirected his gaze back to the three unsurprisingly terrified guard ponies, one of them even started wetting his uniform. "NOW GET OUTSIDE!!" he coldly ordered =///30 Minutes later\\\= The Equestria Military supply depot is now on fire, the operations commander announces that the operation 'Permanent Borrow' was a complete success and then announced all personnel to transport all the looted goods and weapons they had confiscated after they finished packing everything into the cart they were ordered to burn down the entire facility to cover their tracks and ensure the Equestrians couldn't track them down. All they need to do now is deal with their eyewitnesses/POWs. ... *SOBBING* Sadness, hopelessness, and total distress are all Midnight Swing can feel right now, she and her two friends were currently digging a hole with their helmets, a hole that would soon become their grave. *SOBS* "I have a family." Bronzehelm said while crying. "Don't care, Didn't ask, Ratio, dig faster you pastel fuck!" Raggedy said while pointing his machete at the three ponies, other creatures can only watch their team leader do something that is basically a war crime. *SOBS* "I just do data entry..." Bronzehelm said while nervous. "Alright, YOU!" Raggedy pointed his claw towards Midnight Swing, he then threw at her a small knife which then landed in front of her. "Kill him!" he pointed his claws at Bronzehelm. "W-wha-t?" Midnight asked while being scared. "Are you stupid? take this knife and stab him in the mouth!" Raggedy said while grinning evilly in front of her. "N-no please, he is my friend." *SOBS* "Shut up! and after he's dead cut off his face and wear it as your face!!" "PPLEASEEE!!!" Midnight started panicking, even though she was a soldier she wouldn't be able to do something that violent, especially to her own close friend. "I HAD IT UP TO HEAR WHAT YOU WANT!!! NOW STAB HIM AND WEAR HIS FACE, AND THEN GO HOME TO HIS FAMILY STILL WEARING HIS FACE AND SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR THEM TO FIGURE OUT THAT IT'S YOU AND NOT HIM!!!" Raggedy said calmly, meanwhile everyone in the area could only stare while gaping in shock, what Raggedy said was truly evil, cruel, and diabolical to the point where it could make Satan cringing. Midnight Swing started hyperventilating, how could she hurt one of her best friends? Bronzehelm was her childhood friend, he was always by her side no matter the situation. Slowly, she reluctantly began to lift the knife and began to direct her gaze at Bronzehelm, Tears began to flow from his eyes like waterfalls at Niagara Falls. "Midni... I am your friend, please..don't do this..." Bronzehelm said while crying stuttering. "..." "Please jus-.." *STAB* Midnight suddenly stabbed the Bronzehelm in the mouth which directly penetrated his gums and caused a large amount of bleeding, he was unable to let out a scream before she stabbed him again but this time towards his throat, and blood quickly splattered everywhere from the ground to her face, but she didn't stop she kept stabbing him again and again and again until finally, Bronzehelm let out his last breath as he died in slow and agonizing death. After he died, Midnight started skinning Bronzehelm's face and started making terrifying-looking masks from the skin of her friend's face, the results could be described as demonic, many creatures who saw the results quickly vomited back their lunch and started running away in fear, as she began to put the mask in her face, Raggedy let out a classic cliche' evil laugh that made everyone who was left scared beyond belief. This supply depot was not the only base attacked and looted by members of a now-formed international coalition of species, but one among many. but no one can deny that what happened here was brutal to the point where it had to be kept hidden from the public eye. Raggedy meanwhile continued to laugh evilly, not only was his mission a complete success he also managed to prove to himself and to the world that the 'Magic of Friendship' Is not as strong as the ponies always claim and show, he is proud of himself and the best of all is that this will not be the last time he will do this. (Author's note: the next page will be uploaded in less than 4-5 hours) > Exodus part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =///Vanhoover, Northern Equestrians Merchant Shipping CO. almost at the same time\\\= Meanwhile, in the northern part of Equestria, there is the port city of Vancouver, a few days ago this city was the busiest and most prosperous port city in the northern part of Equestria because this city is a major hub for the shipping industry to import goods from Equestria to the continent of Zebrica in the west. But since the "Whiteouts" occurred, all economic activity in this city stopped almost overnight, this is because Princess Celestia issued a regulation that all civilian ships and airships are not allowed to sail as far as 10 kilometers from the coast because of their unfamiliarity in this new world. This leaves all shipping companies with no option to keep all their ships and Airships in port hangar until further notice. This policy of course caused many large shipping companies in Equestria to suffer drastic losses of income, even some small companies started to suffer bankruptcy because of this. This is what happened to Astral Whisker, his company was on the verge of bankruptcy and there's almost nothing he can do about it. As he slowly succumbed to his depression, he suddenly heard a knock on his office door. *Knock* *Knock* "Who is it?" Astrial asked "Errgh sir, there is someone here to meet you." "What? I don't invite anyone here." "We don't know sir, but they say they want to discuss your business offer, sir." Business offer? that sounded interesting to Astral, For almost two weeks not a single company or individual has tried to offer business or become a customer to his company due to shipping restriction policies enforced by the Royal government. "Alright, bring them in, I'm gonna talk to them." The door began to open but instead of revealing the typical business pony he usually encountered, he was greeted by a male Saddle Arabian Horse accompanied by a female Hippogriffs beside him. Astral could only sit there dumbfounded, the Saddle Arabian who came to his office was not an ordinary merchant, he was the high Sultan of the Saddle Arabian Royal Family, he was tall, muscular, and dressed in expensive traditional clothes made from the highest quality silk the world could make. "Greetings, my name is Sultane Muhoofmad bin Saltman, I'm the high sultan of the kingdom of Saddle Arabyia, are you the CEO of this company?" "Y-yes... I am the director of Astral Whisker, I am the leader and owner of the South Equestrian X-Press shipping company (S.E.X)." The Arabian Sultan and Hippogriff princess originally intended to simply laugh (and maybe beat him up) for such a shitty name for the company. But that would go against the mission and the reason why they were here, so the Sultan and the Hippogriff decided to suppress their urge to laugh and settled on their objective, the Hippogriff princess took the file document she was carrying and placed it on Astral's desk. "Après-midi sir, I am Princess Skystar from the Kingdom of Hippogrifia, I and Sultan Muhoofmad here would like to offer you an offer to purchase your company's assets, especially your commercial Airship." 'Airships?' Astral was a bit confused, in a time of crisis like this what they wanted to do with the Airship? all import and export operations between Equestria and the international world were at a complete stop. At first, he wanted to simply try asking why but decided against it because if years of experience had taught him anything trying asking customers about what they wanted to do with the products you sell to them will make it possible for them to decide to cancel the contact, no creature wants to waste time they try to explain what they are going to do with their personal purchases to other people because it is a waste of time. Moreover, from what is seen here, Astral can guess that the Saddle Arabyian Sultan and the Hippogriff princess might want to buy the Airship to be repurposed as a luxury private resort cruise liner for the typical Royal harem or something. (Flying version of Epstein island) "Of course, my employee can prepare one of the airships from our hangar to be ready for sale and-..." "Sorry désolé, we're not here to buy just one Airship, We intend to buy all airworthy Airships owned by this company, this also includes spare parts and infrastructure assets for operation and maintenance." "W-what?" Astrel was in shock, they wanted to buy his entire fleet of Airships. that's really propostorus! "Y-you can't... if I sell it my company will go bankrupt!" The Sultan then took a small brown cotton bag from his pocket and put it on his table, inside it was filled with gold coins and coins of various sizes that could buy someone a small mansion. Astral could only sit in his chair dumbfounded and in his eyes there was a money symbol like Mr Krabs, the Sultan and the Hippogrif Princess are not playing around and are serious about buying all of his company's Airships. Astral then straightens himself again, this is a one in life once in a lifetime offer that can provide him and his family wealth for several generations to come. "This is truly an extraordinary offer, your highness, but unfortunately it is still not enough to buy all the fleet and supporting assets that my company owns, there are more than hundreds of Airships and various different designs and specifications as well as thousands of types of various spare parts which make the price tag even exceed the monthly income of the entire province in the middle east of Equestria." "Oh don't worry about it, I have several more similar bags in there." The Sultan pointed his hoof at the left window of the room. "OH MY CELESTRIA!!" Outside the company building, Astral could see an iron cart and inside there were dozens of brown cotton bags piled up which was similar to the one Sultan Muhammad put on his table. Astral Whisker can't believe it, just a few minutes ago he was on the verge of bankruptcy and went broke but now he's only a few steps away from becoming the richest pony in Equestria. "Give me the contract paper, I will sign it now!" Skystar also opened a file document containing sales contract papers for all Airships and support infrastructure owned by South Equestrian X-Press and then placed it on the table for Astral to sign. Without a second tought, he immediately signed the contract and sold all the Airship and all its supporting assets owned by the company. After he finished signing the contract, Astral quickly took the bag of gold on the table and immediately went out of his office and then announced to all his employees that they were all released from their duty, permanently. "I have to say, the people of HIppogrifia and other species of the League of Nations are eternally indebted to you, Without your help we would not be able to move our people to the new continent safely, we are eternally grateful." "Oh don't worry about it, it's just a fraction of my family wealth that we keep in Equestria's Central Bank, besides, I already hired several Hitman to ambush (Kill) him on the way home, so I technically won't be spending any money at all on this operation." Muhoofmad then laughed Skystar was surprised by this, she was someone who could still be categorized as a teenager (she was 17) and never expected to be involved in a multi-national operation that involved killing and betraying her pony friends (especially Twilight), even so, she decided to continue her mission, the safety of her people is in danger and she is the only descendant of the Hippogrifa Royal Family, It was her duty to do what was necessary to ensure what was left of the people of Hippogrifia would be able to survive this interdimensional cataclysm. "Thank you Sir Sultane, but are you sure you and your people want to keep staying in Equestria rather than migrating to a new continent?" "Yes, The Equestrian Princess has a political agreement with my family and we have many assets that we can use to get ourselves a piece of territory within Equestria, and besides, the League of Nations needs eyes and ears to keep a permanent watch on what happens inside Equestria." Princess Skystar can only smile, because the influence of Arabians in the Equestrian economy is really big, the amount of debt that the government of Equestria owes the House of Arabyia is almost double their total annual GDP, this makes Princess Celestria basically not dare say "NO" to Muhoofmad and his people, he basically has total political and economic immunity. Skystar and the people of Hippogriffia get a golden opportunity to survive and thrive in this new and strange world, just not in the way Alfort and others in the League of Nations predicted. =///Two days later, Ancornage Bay, 1000 Horus, East Equestria \\\= After successfully acquiring all they needed, all members of the League of Nations began to execute the second step of Alfort's plan, Operation Exodus. All the remaining non-pony populations live in Equestria (Except Saddle Arabyians) ordered by their respective governments to pack all the belongings they could carry and go gather at the major Equestrian port city to prepare to be evacuated from this pastel hellhole. Meanwhile The Equestrian Government under the supreme leader Sunset Shimmer began to notice something was wrong after they lost contact with dozens of headquarters and military supply depots, Sunset then began to order the military to mobilize all active Leagon and Equestrian and Airfleet to search for the perpetrators. But unfortunately for Sunset and her comrades, Alfort had expected this and ordered all remaining international troops under the command of the League of Nations to launch mass bombing attacks across all parts of Equestria. Hundreds of government and civil buildings were bombed to the ground, major bridges were collapsed and dozens of infrastructure were critical to what was left of the economy of Equestria such as the Crystal Power Plant, dams, mines, train stations, and agricultural fields were sabotaged or completely destroyed. This caused great chaos throughout Equestria, thousands of ponies in various cities began to panic, they didn't know what really happened, some believed that this was a natural disaster and while others believed that this is an attack from Humans trying to invade Equestria to conquer them so they can turn the ponies into slaves or even livestock. These rumors made many Airship commanders order their Squadrons and Fleets to surround Manehattan and ordered the American troops there to surrender themselves and their weapons to the Equestrian military and become their prisoners of war, something that definitely won't end badly for all the Equestrian troops deployed there. =///Geneighva, Kingdom of Orlenia Embassy, 0010 Hours\\\= The new queen of Kingdom of Orlenia, Chi-Yeva Nirika I (Or simply Yeva 1st) was in her room searching for looking for something inside her cupboard and desk drawers to find her cosmetic items, the former Ambassador will not simply leave her rare beauty items in Equestria because this is a one of a kind product that is no longer in production. Meanwhile in the background, Secretary Blackthorn and several deer royal guards stood behind her, they were assigned to guard and assist in the evacuation of all embassy staff several hours ago, but their new queen destroy that plan because she spent more than two hours looking for her personal cosmetics. Some may be curious as to why this bitch were suddenly appointed as the new queen? well just like other governments trapped in Equestria, the Kingdom of Orlenia began to reform its country to adapt itself to the new world because the entire Orlenian Royal Family was still in Equus, the Embassy staff decided to appoint someone with the highest ranking position there to be their new leader, the same thing also happened in other countries, in the Griffonia Empire Embassy Ambassador Alfort was now coronated as Kaiser and Night Frost's representative was appointed as Empress Kiriya Matriarchy. "Ms. Amba-..your Excellency, I beg you to follow us to the evacuation Airship now, we are already several hours behind schedule," Blackthorn said while pleading with the new queen. "But I can't leave my precious cosmetics and my rare perfume! because we have lost contact with our homeland there will be no more supply of these products anymore! And also I don't believe that humans have the capability to make any decent perfume or even decent civilized cosmetic products with just how ugly they look." Secretary Blackthorn then facepalms (or facehoof) he can't believe that many of the embassies agreed to appoint her as the new queen. "Just please hurry, we can't stay in this building for any longer, the evacuation fleet will be leaving any minute now." "Oh Helvetti, just give me another minute!, I almost found it, I just need to check-.." *KABOOM* Suddenly several explosions shook the foundations of the embassy building which unceremoniously knocked the new queen of the Orlenians to the floor. "Holy Spirit!!! Your Majesty, are you okay?" Blackthorn asked while having a worried expression on his face. "Oh hyvännäköinen, don't worry I'm fine, anyway I need to check the last cupboard there, I'm sure my things will definitely be ther-.." "This is an emergency broadcast at CIC, to everyone in the building please leave immediately and evacuate to the nearest Airship, the Equestrian military has initiated aerial bombardment of the city of Geneighva and the surrounding area, all available air units were ordered to take to the air and engage the pegasi bombers now!" "VITTU!!! Everyone get the Queen to the Airship ASAP!" Blackthorn said loudly to all the troops in the room.. "B-but I've not yet found my perfume bottle and cosmetic box! These things are my entire life!" Yeva said while having a pleading expression on her face. "Then get yourself a new life!, You are our new queen and it is your duty to fulfill all her obligations! NOW get your hoof to the Airship now!" Blackthorn said harshly, Maybe it was too harsh for the queen because after that Yeva started crying full of tears as the Orlenian Royal guards began to drag him out of the room and into the Airship which was full of the remaining Orlenian civilians who found themselves trapped in Equestria, no one had ever shouted in front of her before (Except her father), this will likely be the biggest challenge to her life. Meanwhile, in the sky above the city of Geneva, Equestria's Pegasus squadron is having a fierce dogfight with the area defense troops of Griffons and Hippogriffs. The Equestrian Airship and the League of Nations Airship share fire between each other using their ballista launchers, there were heavy casualties between both sides however because they were outnumbered and outgunned they did not stop the Equestrian onslaught but they managed to give the civilian Airships the ability to fly away and escape from the city to the coast to rendezvous with other the Airships who managed to flee the country. =///Geneighva underground sewer system, 1100 Horus\\\= Inside one of the many underground sewer tunnels beneath the city of Geneighva is a Zebra monk named Ahzonthe from the Kingdom Of Azir who was sitting while finishing a bottle containing the traditional southern Zebrica alcoholic drink, he was not alone in the tunnel, he was accompanied by several other zebras who were also enjoying the last sip of their golden alcoholic liquid, they are here with a specific mission, they were ordered to initiate the third phase of operation Exodus, operation Scorched Earth. Alfort knows that Equestria troops will try to chase the evacuation fleet and possibly shoot it down, so he decided to devise a plan to directly destroy the huge chunk of Equestrian Airship fleet by using an ancient forbidden spell that only the most skilled Zebra monks ever could do, this spell is very destructive to the point where it is capable of destroying entire cities with just the blink of an eye, a spell that is kept secret in the deepest vaults that the Zebrakind can build, Core Magic Spell." "attaÃ, the League of Nations troops in the air and on the surface have been overrun by the Equestrian troops, the League of Nations gave us the green light to initiate the ritual." said by radiozebra on the edge of the wall. Ahzonthe also threw his alcohol bottle against the tunnel wall, the bottle shattered into pieces just as fate would soon meet the Equestria troops in a few minutes, this mission was a suicide mission, he wanted to make sure to go to the afterlife with style. "Huh zabi, it took them long enough, Hjzeo! Get me the Magic Crystal, I can't wait to send these ponies to kingdom come." The Radiozebra immediately took the wooden box that was next to him and opened it, Inside is a bright rainbow-colored crystal stone, the crystal is not too big, and its size almost resembled a football, however this crystal is not an ordinary crystal, this is a rare crystal stone called Chalcopyrite, despite its small size, this crystal is really energy dense, namely around 4.18 × 1015 Joules, almost the same energy as weapons-grade plutonium... (Source? My source is that I made it the fuck up!) "Are you sure you want to keep doing this Ahzon?, from what I remember, this city is still inhabited by more than one and a half million ponies, couldn't this be categorized as... Genocide?" "Meh, you say it like the ponies care about genocide, those pastel bastards would happily do the same thing to us if they had access to this spell, thank goodness our ancestors managed to hide it before it fell into the hoofs of the Alicorns." Ahzonthe grinned, wondering what the Equestrian princesses' faces would look like when they saw one of their historical cities turned into a giant crater and half of their Airfleet turned into atomic ash. "OK then, let's start the ritual." The zebra monks who were there began to chant their mantras which slowly began to make the magical crystals to vibrate, they happily continuously raised their voices and strengthened their mantra which made the crystal slowly float into the air, slowly, a crack began to appear on the surface of the crystal, emitting a dazzling light, the cracks began to spread across the surface of the crystal until finally with a sickening crack the crystal broke and released all the energy stored in the crystal. In a millisecond, a ball of plasma hotter than the Sun appears and grows in a fireball to more than 2 kilometers across. Within this ball, everything is just gone, similar to when a drop of water is dropped onto a very hot pan, a sizzle and then there's nothing. Most buildings, carts, trees, Alicorn sculptures, and ponies... All evaporated. First, the flash an intense tsunami of light washes over the city in an instant, anypony that happen to have their heads pointed in the direction of the explosion will suffer from permanent blindness. The heat of this light produces a thermal pulse, so energetic and hot that it just burns everything as far as 13 kilometers from the detonation site. this means that everything in an area of 500 square kilometers that can burn starts burning, plastic, wood, fabric, fur, and skin burn or even melts directly. or if you're unlucky, completely. If anypony happens to be in reach of thermal pulse, one moment they're on their way to work, the next moment, they're on fire. The heat and radiation of a fireball create a bubble of superheated and super-compressed air around it that's now expanding explosively. Faster than the speed of sound, creating winds stronger than hurricanes and tornadoes. pony infrastructure is no match for its power, all buildings within a kilometer of Fireball are just ground up down to their base. In the surrounding residential area where dozens of Equestrian troops patrolled and looked for any potential enemies, have their plumage blackened from the heat a second before their bodies snapped like toothpicks before getting tossed away like a grain of dust in a tornado. The shockwave weakens as it travels outwards. But still, about 175 square kilometers of houses collapse like they're made of cards, and destroying all Equestrian Airships that fly in the area. A mushroom cloud made from the remains of fireball, dust, and ash rises kilometers into the sky in the next few minutes and casts a dark shadow over the ruined city and the entire Equestrian continent. (Yes it's typically a fucking nuclear bomb, deal with it.) =///Few Hours laater\\\= In the North Luna Sea hundreds of Airships carrying hundreds of thousands of civilian passengers fly to rendezvous points in the Earth's Northern Hemisphere, when they got there the Airships authorities began to separate their Airships based on their respective races and nationalities. Why do they do this? Well, even though the League of Nations coalition forces managed to destroy almost half of Equestria's Airfleet, that doesn't mean the Equestrian Royal Navy won't try to catch them. So the best thing you do as a chased group is to split up and go in multiple directions to prevent the whole group from being caught, and also agreements between Alfort and other leaders in the League of Nations to agree to divide all human territories between each other based on their respective national needs. =///North Luna Sea, GEA Unstopable, 1400 Hours\\\= Inside one of the converted civil Airships of the newly crowned Kaizer of Griffonian Empire Alfort Hemmer I was sitting comfortably in his study chair, he was reviewing the report document which contains statistics on the total amount of building supplies and food in his fleet, he wanted to ensure that his people had everything they needed to rebuild the Griffonian Empire. While he was still in the middle of reading the document, he suddenly heard a knock on his office door. *Knock* *Knock* "Enter," Alfort said with authority. The door opened and behind it revealed a Griffon dressed in a luxurious uniform, from what he looks like, he was the captain of the Airship he was currently on. "Your Excellency, I would like to report that all our passenger and military Airships have completed mandatory checks and inspections before flights, What are your next orders, Your Excellency ?" "Hmm..." Alfort took the copy of this new world map that he got from GI'O and put it on the table, he spent several seconds watching it before finally pointing his finger at the northernmost building of the largest continent on the planet. "Order all the Airships captains in the fleets to start flying towards the Northwest, this part of the continent will be our new home." The Airship Captain looked at the map and estimated how far it would be to travel to the continent from their current position, from his calculations he predicted they would only need 6 days of direct travel. "Are you sure this is a wise decision, Your Excellency? Don't you want to try heading to another continent?." "Of course! I have spent hours negotiating with leaders of other countries in the League of Nations on how we will divide up the territory of this new world, I managed to secure a huge chunk of the northern region of the largest continent on the planet so we can have a very huge living spaces and full of untouched resources for our species. At the conference at the League of Nations headquarters, all countries agreed to share territory with each other, the Griffons will take the northern part of the largest continent (Siberia) The Kirin will take the eastern and central parts of the same continent (China and Central Asia) Hippogriffs will claim the southwestern part of the islands located in the southern part of the continent (Southeast Asia). Other species such as the Minotaur went to claim the continent to the northeast (North America) and meanwhile, Harpies and Capybaras will colonize the southern-eastern part (South America). Other minor and weak species such as Deers, Yaks, Zebras, Giraffes, Camels, Yeti, and others will claim the rest. "Very well, Your Excellency, forgive me for doubting you, I will convey the order to the captains of the other Airships immediately." The captain saluted and then left the room, leaving Alfort alone again. Alfort then nodded and then leaned back in his seat again, he couldn't restrain his patience when they finally arrived at their destination and began a military campaign to conquer the continent and rebuild the Griffonian Empire from scratch in his image. Alfort grinned, he could imagine the victory and glory he would gain when he succeeded in conquering the primitive natives of this world... Although Alfort's imagination and fantasy of thousand year empire will not come true, but his hope of making his people not just survive but also prosper in this strange new world will indeed come true, just not in the form he and others had predicted. =///San Franscisco, Presidio base, 300 Hours\\\= "...Say that again?" The General asked. "Mastariet, according to spy planes sent by our covert bases in Mexico, they're reporting a nuclear-like detonation on the mainland of Eskeuru," reported a Hegemony operator on the phone. "Hm... So not only their magic is bullshit, but now they have nuclear tech, wait a minute, when I converse with the president he told me firearms! What the hell is he giving to the dammed Equines!" "Sir he has not started the shipment yet or we would've informed you that we had begun sabotaging operations, however, we have other news I wish to speak with you about." The General rolled his eyes as he slouched back on his chair and looked at the sun behind him. "First tell me, how is the "incident" going." "It's on its way, the contacts had a bump in with positioning, but with the help from your CIA contact the men managed to slip by undetected from checkpoints, on your word they are ready." "I see, well do not start yet until I can clean up this situation myself, anything from D.C.?" "Yes General, we have confirmed that the personnel killed in Equestria from the Dragon attack were your's, they've kept the file hidden from you by the order of the FBI and the president." ... "Should, I be concerned?" ... "Sir?" The general leaned close to his desk and whispered calmly and aggressively. "... just have the men ready, and prepare for the October meeting, I expect- No! I want this to be worse than 9/11 the president will now know that he has fucked up, big time." "It shall be done Mastariet. Long live the Hegemony." "Long live the Hegemony." Angered at this sudden news that was kept from him, he could've smashed the desk, but then it would just give him a bigger mess to clean, but on the bright side, he let out a slight chuckle at the amount of things he may do when the incident starts. And oh the amount of plans he has prepped after. And when these things happen, people at first may call him a monster, a terrorist, or a fascist. But in the end, deep down, they'll thank him later. But first... "Sir!" Entered John Kay. "Ah, Lieutenant, what is it?" The general asked. "Sir! Early radar sensors are detecting slow low altitude flying objects heading for San Fransisco city!" "Really?" The general asked amused with laughter, as he assumed it was a joke. "Sir I'm not joking this is serious!" It was then that his point was proven to be exactly right as radar operators entered his office, and that was when it grabbed Howard's undivided attention, of course considering that he was going to listen afterward, this also brought a lot of questions, for one, did Equestria decided now it wanted to attack his homeland? Or was there... Something else afoot? Either way, whether it was a coincidence that a damn nuclear bomb blew up in the new continent and then they happen to send an army in retaliation, at least that's what he thinks in theory. But now he is pissed that Equestria may have probably killed more of his men than the dragons did by now so now this was personal! "How many are we speaking here!" He questioned aggressively "Hundreds sir! They're armed with weapons sir, they seem to possess the ability to wreak havoc on our city, on your orders Anti-Air armor vehicles will be deployed," the radar man said, as Howard got up from his seat, placed his cap on the coat hangar, grabbed his black cap, his bolt action rifle, and his devilish smile. "How long until the flying object arrives in the city?" "Proximally around 5 days 6 hours sir." "Alright then gents. Deploy the men, deploy the tanks, deploy the copters, and let's boogie!"