Chapter 2

First Contact

LOCATION: Twilight's Library.

TIME: Middle of the night.

Sitrep, Gyvon thought to himself as he analyzed his surroundings. The walls were stacked floor to ceiling with books, while even more littered the floor in various places. An inhabited world, he concluded as his on-board atmospheric analyzer completed it's scan. The atmosphere appeared to be Earth-like, though the analysis showed a smaller concentration of carbon dioxide. A pre-industrial civilization, Gyvon surmised, although an intelligent one judging by the amount of books.

Once the scans were finished, Gyvon ran his diagnostic program. Weapons, life support, and motor functions all came back positive. Satisfied that he was in no immediate danger, Gyvon sat up and got out of bed. He heard a faint hooting, and turned to face the source. He was shocked when he saw that it was an owl. It gave an inquisitive hoot, before flying upstairs and through a small hole next to a door. What else does this world have in common with Earth he wondered as he turned towards one of the bookshelves. Leaning in, he gasped as he realized that the titles were in perfectly legible English. Rows and rows of books, all in alphabetical order, save for one, "The History of Equestria: Part 1", which was conspicuously placed between "Original Stories for Young Fillies" and "The Origin of Species of the Everfree Woods". Curiouser and curiouser he thought, reaching for the misplaced book.

"Oh, you're awake." came a feminine voice, startling Gyvon. He turned around, searching for the source of the voice. He noticed the owl from earlier, and another, far stranger creature. It was a pony, although unlike any Gyvon had seen before. It had a light-purple coat and a dark violet mane in a strangely human-like style, with a pink and purple stripe going down the length. Protruding from the bangs over the pony's forehead, was a single horn. A unicorn. concluded Gyvon, his mind working in overdrive. This world keeps getting stranger

"Who said that? Show yourself!" demanded Gyvon. The unicorn gave an annoyed look, and did the one thing that could surprise Gyvon at this point. It spoke, "Uh, I did." Were He still human, Gyvon might have fainted. With his Cybertronian enhanced brain, however, he managed to give off a flat "What?"

The unicorn looked concerned. "You must be confused," she said. "Not surprising. You must be far from home." Gyvon had managed to recover from the shock of talking to a pony by that point. "Yes, a long way" he said, raising his hand to the back of his head. "Although the blow to the head doesn't help matters." Gyvon sat down on the floor and sighed. "A long way from home." The unicorn approached him "So, where are you from anyways?", she asked. Gyvon responded by pointing upwards. "A few thousand parsecs that direction, give or take a degree of angle." With wide eyes, the unicorn breathed "That is far away." She sat down next to Gyvon. "What's your name?" she asked. "My name's Gyvon." he replied, having finally come to grips that he was talking to a unicorn. "What's yours?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. Since you're new to this world, let me be the first to welcome you to Equestria." Gyvon chuckled, and smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate that." Twilight beamed, "I can't wait to introduce you to my friends!" she exclaimed, "You'll love them." Twilight looked at the time. "Although, it'll have to wait until after the race tomorrow. I don't know how the rest of Ponyville will react when they see you." Gyvon nodded. "Probably a good idea. We don't want to start a panic on accident."

Gyvon stopped to think for a second. "Speaking of which, where did you find me? I know I didn't just appear in that bed all of a sudden." Twilight shook her head. "No. I saw you fall out of the sky in a glade of trees nearby. Rarity, one of my friends, was with me. I sent her to get Fluttershy, another of my friends, so she could see if you were alright. After Rarity left, I immediately brought you here. I did write to Princess Celestia about you, but she won't be here until tomorrow afternoon."

Gyvon gave a concerned look. "Won't they spread rumors around town?" he asked. Twilight thought for a moment, turning away. "Not Fluttershy. She has trouble speaking to anypony and usually keeps to herself. The Princess might tell her sister, but she made it clear in her response that she wouldn't go public without meeting you first. Rarity, on the other hoof..." She turned back. "I'll be right back" she said, and with a bright flash she was gone. Startled, Gyvon could only say "What?"

LOCATION: Carousel Boutique

TIME: Middle of the night.

With a flash of light, Twilight appeared in the bottom floor of Rarity's home. Normally she would teleport to the front door and knock, but this was an emergency. Quietly, Twilight made her way up the stairs, trying not to wake Rarity prematurely. When she reached the bedroom door, she carefully opened it, careful not to disturb Opel, who was sleeping in front of it. Twilight approached Rarity, and prodded her gently. "Rarity, please wake up. It's important." she whispered. Being a light sleeper, Rarity shot awake almost instantly, looking around for whatever disturbed her slumber.

"TWILIGHT!" she yelled, "Do you not realize how incredibly rude it is to be breaking into somepony's home and waking them up?" Twilight gave a pleading look. "I'm sorry, Rarity, but it's an emergency!" she exclaimed. Having had a moment to calm down, Rarity inquired "Is it about the creature we found? Is he awake?" Twilight nodded. "Yes, he's awake. Rarity, I need to know if you've told anypony about him yet?" Rarity shook her head. "No, I haven't told anypony about him except for Fluttershy. I felt it best that you handle that endeavor." Twilight sighed. "Ok, thank you for not telling anypony. Sorry again for waking you." Rarity gave a dismissive wave of her hoof "It's quite alright dear. Just don't make a habit of it. Good night." As Twilight began to turn away, she said "Good night, Rarity." As she closed the bedroom door behind her, Twilight teleported back to the library.

LOCATION: Twilight's Library

TIME: Middle of the night.

In a flash, Twilight reappeared, and looked around. She saw Gyvon sitting in a corner, a small stack of books laying on the floor next to him, while he read "A Beginners Guide to Magic". He looked up as Twilight approached. "So, are we good?" he asked. Twilight nodded, "Yes, Rarity hasn't blabbed yet. Though she was a little ticked that I woke her up in the middle of the night." Gyvon chuckled at this. "I would be too." he said. "Ah well, no harm done." He closed the book he was reading and held it up. "Fascinating stuff you've got here." he said. Twilight snorted, "Please. Any unicorn worth their horn could do the spells in that book." Gyvon shrugged at this "Maybe," he said, setting the book down and pulling a quarter out of his pocket "but it's a lot more than anyone from my world can do. 'Magic' where I'm from is nothing more than misdirection and sleight of hand," Gyvon proceeded to demonstrate with the coin, using a simple trick he had learned as a child, "nothing like what's in that book."

"Huh, you seem incredibly well grounded all things considered." said Twilight. "I mean, you're teleported a long ways from home, landed in a totally new environment, and you haven't been exposed to magic until today. How are you managing to cope with all of this?" Gyvon couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "Trust me, Twilight. I've been around the block a few times and I've seen some weird sh- stuff in my time." Regaining his composure, Gyvon looked over at Twilight, who had a confused look on her face. "I'll tell you about it some time. I'd rather meet your friends first, though." Twilight nodded. "Of course. I'll bring them over after the race tomorrow. You can watch it from the top floor if you want." with this, Twilight yawned, fatigue finally taking it's toll on the young mare. "It's getting late. I'd better go to bed if I'm gonna make it to the race tomorrow." she said. "Very well. I've got some reading to do." replied Gyvon. "Good night." Twilight turned and made for the stairs.

As soon as her bedroom door was closed, Gyvon reached for another book, this one "The History of Equestria: Part 1" he saw earlier. Although he opened the book, he had trouble reading it. His mind was working at light speed. He told Twilight that he'd tell her some of the things he had seen. What should I tell her?, he thought to himself. The War, obviously, but how much detail should I go into? Should I tell her about the battle of Mission City? Giza? Chicago? he set the book back down, got up, and walked over to the bed. Should I tell her about what the Decepticons did to me? What they did to my Platoon? As he came to bed, he realized that he would have to tell her eventually. As he laid down, he couldn't help but wonder What have I gotten myself into this time? And with that, he was out like a light.