Chapter 2: First Contact

"If they aren't human, then what the hell are they?"

"….ponies."

"Huh?"

"Ponies."

I stared at Collin, my vision pretty much clear by now. I was expecting him to break out into a smile, to laugh at me and tell me that my expression was priceless, that the absurd thing that he'd just said was just some sort of crazy attempt at humor.

Instead, his face remained calm, a look of pure seriousness in his eyes.

I shook my head in disbelief, refusing to accept such craziness.

"I've seen them." he stated, seeing right through me. "I know it's hard to believe. I damn near wrote it off as some sort of hallucination. But if you want proof that what I'm saying is true, I can show you. Come with me."

He stood up, and I hesitated for a second before following suit.

We worked our way up a hill, the forest clearing as we reached the top. Stopping, Collin gestured in front of him towards a cliff overlooking a valley. Slowly, I walked up towards it.

"Here, take these." He said, pushing a pair of binoculars into my hands. "And whatever you do, stay low to the ground. I don't want them to know we're here just yet, not until we figure out whether they're friendly or not."

I looked into my hands at the binoculars, shaking my head as I mumbled something incoherent. Dropping to the ground, I crawled up to the ledge on my belly, peering over it.

What I saw was shocking to say the very least.

A sleepy little town was spread out before me, nestled in the valley. The buildings were smaller than a typical house, though it looked like they could still accommodate a human, if only just. Many were made of stone and wood in a quaint European design, with what looked like straw-thatched roofs. Some were strangely designed, one looking like a hollowed out tree, another looking like some sort of gingerbread house. A farm lay on the outskirts of the town, the faint scent of apples coming from its direction.

Pulling the binoculars up to my eyes, I peered through them to get a better look. Dirt roads went through the town, some worn from what looked like wagon tracks. Lights flickered in some of the houses, and I could tell that some of the residents were moving along the…

Holy Jesus mother of Christ.

They did indeed look like ponies, though they were much different in proportion from regular ponies. Giant rounded heads with small dainty snouts, their eyes were simply massive. Their manes were styled, much like the hairstyles humans would use. They were tiny, maybe three feet tall at best, some of the adults looking like they were two feet, and the children appearing less than a foot. They came in a wide range of colors, like a tiny sea of rainbows. Even stranger yet, some had horns on their foreheads like unicorns, while others fluttered about in the sky with a set of bird-like wings on their backs.

Watching one a little closer, I noticed it stop in front of another one and start conversing.

By this point my jaw had dropped, and I lowered the binoculars.

"What do you see?" questioned Collin, giving me a curious look.

"The white and purple one is sitting there talking to the orange one wearing a cowboy hat."

"The hell?" muttered Collin, snatching the binoculars away. "How in the name of all that is magical did an orange pony get a hold of…. hell, screw it. At this point I'll believe anything."

"This is really happening, isn't it?" I muttered, still trying to process everything I'd just seen. "It's like planet of the apes, only with freaky deformed horses."

"Well, from what I can tell, they look peaceful enough. I've been making some observations for the last few days while waiting for you to thaw out. So far, they appear to be quite civilized." stated Collin as he set the binoculars down.

"Anyways, that's a topic for another time. I want to get our own situation set up before we go down and try to make contact."

Suddenly, a large grumble filled the air, causing the both of us to jump. Looking at me, Collin smirked.

"Before anything else though, I suppose we should get you fed. Seven thousand years of having no food in your stomach will make anybody hungry."

As if on cue, my stomach rumbled again in agreement. I mumbled under my breath as we made our way back to the vault.

Two hours and a meal later, the two of us had just finished taking stock of our supplies.

"Looks like most of the food we've been given is beyond useless. We're going to have to do something about that fast." muttered Collin, looking through his list. "Fortunately we have a fresh supply of water just outside. That stream is pretty damn clean too. Never seen water so clear in my life."

"I've looked through our spare parts, I think I can rig up something to generate electricity out of what we have." I stated, looking over a pile of junk that I had amassed. "If I can get enough power to boot up the main computer, we might find some sort of clue as to what happened. More than that, we may be able to find a way to contact one of the other vaults. If they're still around that is."

I paused at that thought, glancing at Collin who had an uneasy look on his face. It mirrored my thoughts exactly. It was highly unlikely they were still around. We had to try though.

"See what you can do with that. If you don't have everything, make a list of what you need before you go to sleep tonight. I'll see if I can get something like it down in the town." stated Collin as he looked back to his list.

I paused, concern welling within me.

"You're not actually thinking of going in there tonight, are you?"

"No, of course not." he stated, shrugging it off. "I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

My jaw hit the ground.

"You're going to just waltz up to their town and say hello?" I asked incredulously. "What if they attack you? What if they want to eat you? How the hell are you going to get out of there?"

Placing his list down, he gave me a stern look. "Look. It's not the best of options, I know. But we need food supplies. I have no idea what is edible in this forest and neither do you. More than that, I get the feeling that they WILL discover us eventually, and most likely sooner than later. Rather than waiting for them to catch us off guard, I'd like to make the first move. As for whether they would like to eat us or not, I'd like to point out that they are not only several times smaller than us, but that they are also just ponies. I highly doubt they eat meat."

"But what if they do decide that you're an enemy?"

"That's the risk I take. Kid, I'm not new at this. I'm the head of Foreign Affairs, remember? I'm used to diplomacy. I've been in far worse situations than this. I know what I'm doing, just trust me."

I grumbled, but relented on the subject. He was right, on all points. Diplomacy was his area of expertise.

"Do you want me to at least go with you?" I asked.

"No. I want you to stay behind this time. I get the feeling these creatures haven't seen human beings before. I'd rather not double the shock by having two of them show up in their town. More importantly, I think you should work on getting the power back up. Once we have a generator up and running, it should greatly improve our situation."

"All right then. But if you aren't back by sunset, I'm going to go in looking for you. I don't want to be the only one left here in this crazy place."

"Actually, I don't want you coming after me."

I stood up, ready to start yelling. He held up a hand dismissively, a calm look in his eye.

"It's not because I don't want to be saved if things go wrong. It's just that I may need a few days, maybe even a week to get through to them. I highly doubt they speak our language, so negotiating will take some time. The last thing I need is for you to come in guns blazing to save me during the middle of our talks. At least give me a week. If I'm not back in seven days, then come and find me."

"Fine." I relented, sitting back down. "I'll have the generator up and running by then. Just remember, if you don't show up by the end of the week, I'm coming after you, diplomacy be damned."

"I fully expect that of you." grinned Collin, returning to his list.

When morning came, I found myself staring at a pile of spare parts, toolkit in hand. I had a pretty good idea of how I was going to get this running, and most of what I needed had been salvaged from other useless items. Still, it never hurt to be prepared, so I handed Collin a list of parts to pick up if he could find them. With a worried handshake and a wave, he set off down the path towards the town.

That left me to get this damned vault up and running.

Sitting down, a busied myself at repairing the generator. The previous one was an excellent starting point despite its time-worn condition, but I had to make some heavy adjustments to accommodate for the lack of a fusion core. Taking care not to damage anything vital, I stripped out useless connections to areas such as the living room and the several now-vacant rooms that no longer had real use. Rerouting the power, I focused everything into three areas; the Kitchen, the computer console, and the radio tower. Anything else could be added later when I figured out how to generate more electricity.

Hours flew buy as I worked, and before I knew it, the afternoon was here.

Wiping my forehead, I decided it was time to grab something to eat.

As I walked through the vault towards the kitchen, I was struck by how lonely and cold the place seemed. The chairs, once luxurious and comfortable, had deteriorated into such a state of disrepair that they were hardly even recognizable, just as Collin had said they would. Most of the place lay dusty and untouched, the entire facility looking like ancient ruins to a lost civilization that you would see in a movie.

"That's because they ARE ancient ruins to a lost civilization." I thought, the impact of everything finally dawning on me. I really was standing in ruins. I was a relic of the past, along with Collin. Everything the two of us knew was gone, taken away by the unrelenting march of time.

I was surprised when I realized that I was crying, tears flowing freely down my cheeks. They flowed uncontrollably, as I sobbed.

"They're gone." I choked, eyes stinging. "They're all gone. Everyone and everything I ever held dear, it's all gone."

I don't know how long I stood there, how long a cried for, but soon enough I found the strength to stop. Yes, it was all gone. Collin and I were the last remnants of an era. That didn't mean it was over.

We were still alive.

As long as we were, I would continue to walk forward. If anything else, I could manage that. And to do that, I had to get this damned generator up and running.

With renewed vigor, I ate lunch and went right back to work.

As Collin walked down the path, he couldn't help but feel slightly worried. How would the ponies react to seeing him? He had decided to come unarmed. He didn't want to scare them, and having a foreign weapon on him would almost certainly work against his chances of success, especially if he was forced to use it.

Idly, his mind returned back to his wife and daughter, the tearful goodbye they had. He allowed himself a moment to dwell on their faces, the faces that gave him strength and courage to do what had to be done. He missed them dearly, a fact that he tried to hide from Matt while in his presence, always trying to keep up the appearance of a strong leader for the sake of the kid.

He had to admit, he had taken quite a liking to him. He was like the son he never had, brilliant with a bright shining future ahead of him. At the very least, the one good thing that came from this whole mess was that he got to meet the kid.

Voices brought him out of his thoughts, and before he realized it, Collin was standing just at the edge of the forest, a small tree house just several feet away.

Her words were foreign to him, just as he suspected.

"A future with ponies as the dominate species, I can accept. Ponies that wear cowboy hats, I can live with. Hell, I'll even accept the fact that some of them can fly, and that they can talk. But if I were to hear our own language coming out of their mouths after all this time, I would've had to officially check my ass into the nearest insane asylum." He mused.

Focusing back on the voice, he simply sat there listening for a moment. The words were spoken in a soft, motherly tone, one that felt calm and reassuring. Peering around a tree, Collin caught sight of its owner.

She was maybe two and a half feet tall with yellow fur and a long pink mane that covered part of her face, with a set of small wings tucked at her sides. Her eyes were kind, filled with concern as she fussed over what appeared to be an injured bird. She spoke softly to it as she carefully wrapped a bandage across its wing, and Collin found himself amazed by her dexterity. He watched on for a minute longer, debating whether to show himself, when his choice was suddenly made for him.

A stern voice came from behind Collin. He nearly jumped out of his skin, turning around at the sound of the voice. The same orange hat-wearing pony from yesterday was staring at him intently, eyeing him suspiciously.

Collin backed up nervously as it walked towards him, his hands held up.

"Whoa there, I mean you no harm."

The orange pony's eyes grew comically large at this, her mouth hanging slightly agape as she stared at him in total shock.

"Me and a friend of mine have recently woken up from a deep sleep. We saw your town and were hoping to make contact, possibly ask for some supplies and assistance. Would you happen to be able to direct me towards the leader of your town?"

She spoke again, in the same strange language, her defensive stance loosening slightly as she peered into Collins eyes cautiously.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I can't understand a word you are saying." said Collin, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

Suddenly, a loud shriek came from behind them causing Collin to turn back. The yellow pony was staring in fear at him, a nervous look on her face as she darted towards the house, slamming the door.

The orange pony shook her head as she walked just past Collin, who was staring at the door in confusion.

"Did I… do something wrong?" he muttered to himself, uncertainly.

The orange pony said something to him, giving an apologetic look.

Suddenly, someone else shouted from above.

Collin never had a chance to react as something that looked like a rainbow came out of the sky and plowed into his side, throwing him across the field and into a tree. He never got a chance to hear the voice of the orange pony who was calling out in concern, eyes wide at what had just happened. He never even got a chance to hear the rainbow colored creature as it looked down in confusion at his unconscious form.

Applejack stood perplexed as she looked down at the unconscious creature before her, Rainbow Dash standing over him flexing proudly. Shaking her head, she rounded on Rainbow Dash.

"What the hay was that fer?" she shouted, "The poor thing was tryin' to talk to me, looked like he needed a helpin' hoof with somethin'!"

"What?" retorted Dash, getting defensive. "I heard Fluttershy screaming in the distance. I came to see what was going on and saw this creep standing behind you, so I took him down before he could hurt you!"

"He wasn't hurtin' nobody Dash, and you of all people know how skittish Fluttershy can be!"

"Well excuse me for trying to protect my friends!"

"Ah didn't need protection!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Excuse me…" came a timid voice.

"WHAT!" shouted Dash and Applejack, rounding on Fluttershy. She squeaked as she backed up.

"Um… well… the creature looks like he's a little….hurt." she muttered, voice timid and barely audible.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other, and then down at the creature.

"Whoa, uh… is he going to be okay?" muttered Dash, a tint of nervousness in her voice.

"Ah don't know. Fluttershy, do ya think you can help him?" questioned Applejack, clearly concerned.

"I… think he'll be fine, I'll see what I can do for him."

"Great. Dash, why don't you go fly into town and grab Twilight? She may be able to help us with this. When it spoke to me, it was using some weird language I couldn't recognize. She might be able to help with that."

"That thing can speak?" yelled Dash, clearly amazed.

"Yes Dash, it can." replied Applejack, rolling her eyes. "I was trying to talk to it before ya came hurtlin' through the sky like a maniac."

"That's so cool!"

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah?"

"Git goin' before ah buck your winged butt back to Ponyville."

"Err… right."

Watching her fly off towards town, Applejack muttered under her breath. Turning back towards Fluttershy, she smiled as she watched her begin to tend to the downed creature as if it were one of the regular animals.

"Fluttershy, yer just to kind for words to describe." She muttered to herself. Trotting forward, she began to lend a hoof.