When Sergeant Argjend Gjebrea regained consciousness, he found himself. . . in a luxurious bedroom. The blankets felt heavy, and he had difficulty kicking them off. He sat up and realized he wasn’t wearing his cryostasis suit (which he had left on in his mad rush to escape from the Përballim), or his trench-coat. He looked down on himself, and found someone had removed them and clothed him in military civvie clothing-- blue denim pants and jacket, and a white cotton shirt.

There were more surprises when he wandered about the room. Some armor was neatly hung up in a closet, all freshly cleaned and in good repair-- unusual, for its design dated back fifteen years. His pistol was nearby, somehow with all four magazines filled up to capacity with the correct ammunition. And by his beside table, there was a sealed scroll of paper.

Gjebrea undid the seal, and unrolled it to the first few lines of text. The whole scroll, in it entirety, stated (very surprisingly in the Latin script):

Dear Mr. Gjebrea,

My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. About two days ago, we spotted a massive structure crash onto Equestria. Upon investigation, we found it was a space-faring ship, of which purpose we do not understand. We found several hundred corpses, all appearing to be the same species as you are. We identified you by two metallic plates worn on your neck.

So, on behalf of the Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies, I would like to formally welcome you to Equestria. Our kind has never encountered you before, and our first contact was not the most ideal. But you did help fight off a suprise Changeling attack, and for that, we thank you.

Equestria is best described as a kingdom co-ruled by Princesses Celesita and Luna. The two are in charge of raising the sun and moon each day; the former raises and lowers the sun, the latter the moon. Equestria has three main kinds: Unicorns are in charge of magical phenomena, such as the Sun and the Moon, Pegasi control the weather, and Earth Ponies farm the soil to feed themselves and the other two species. If something goes wrong, the other two species assist however they can. This close bond is celebrated every year at the onset of winter, on a holiday known as Hearth’s Warming Eve.

A fourth kind, alicorns, are essentially unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi combined into one. These are rare, with only five known. These alicorns typically carry the title “Princess,” which is earned, not simply passed down. I am one such alicorn, although, to confess, I was not born an alicorn. No alicorn has been born in over a thousand years; I was born a unicorn, but as a result of finishing a very challenging spell, I have earned my wings, and my title.

So, in closing, welcome to Equestria and thank you for your assistance. Feel free to write to me anytime.

Sincerely,

Princess Twilight Sparkle.

The whole message was written in English, but Gjebrea could only speak Albanian and Esperanto (taught in military school for neutral international communications). So he set his HUDcom to translate the entire message into Albanian:

Nderuar zoti Gjebrea,

Emri im është Princesha Vetëtin e Mug. Rreth dy ditë më parë, ne kemi zbuloi një aksident strukturë masive mbi Ekuestriëh. Pas hetimit, kemi gjetur se ishte një anije lëvizës hapësirë, nga të cilat qëllimi që ne nuk e kuptojmë. Ne kemi gjetur disa qindra kufoma, të gjithë duket të jetë e njëjta specie si ju jeni. Ne ju të identifikuar nga dy pllaka metalike të veshur në qafën tuaj.

Pra, në emër të Pegasit, Njëbrirëshra, dhe Kalushra Tokës, unë do të doja të ju mirëpresim zyrtarisht të Ekuestrië. Lloj ynë kurrë nuk ka hasur edhe më parë, dhe kontakti ynë i parë nuk ishte më ideale. Por ju e ka ndihmuar të luftuar një sulm të papritur Çangjelinj, dhe për këtë, ne ju falenderojmë.

Ekuestrië është më së miri si një mbretëri bashkë-drejtuar nga princeshat Celestia dhe Luna. Të dy janë përgjegjës për ngritjen e diellin dhe hënën çdo ditë; se rritjet ish dhe ul diellin, hënën fundit. Ekuestriëh ka tre lloje kryesore: Njëbrirëshra janë të ngarkuar me fenomene të magjike, të tilla si Dielli dhe Hëna, Pegasit kontrollin e motit, dhe Kalushra Tokës fermë tokën për të ushqyer veten dhe dy speciet e tjera. Nëse diçka shkon keq, dy lloje të tjera të ndihmojnë megjithatë ata mund. Kjo lidhje e ngushtë festohet çdo vit në fillim të dimrit, në një festë e njohur si Prag të Vatër e Ngrohjes.

Një lloj i katërt, Çdëbrirëshra, janë në thelb Njëbrirëshra, Kalushra Tokës, dhe Pegasit kombinuara në një. Këto janë të rralla, me vetëm pesë njohur. Këto alicornit zakonisht mbajnë titullin “Princesha,” e cila është fituar, nuk ka kaluar thjesht poshtë. Unë jam një Çdëbrirësh të tilla, edhe pse, për të rrëfej, unë nuk kam lindur një Çdëbrirësh. Asnjë Çdëbrirësh ka lindur në mbi një mijë vjet; Unë kam lindur një Njëbrirësh, por si rezultat i përfunduar një magji shumë të vështirë, unë kam fituar krahët e mia, dhe titulli im.

Pra, në mbyllje, të mirëpritur të Ekuestrië dhe ju falënderoj për ndihmën tuaj. Të ndjehen të lirë për të shkruar për mua në çdo kohë.

Sinqerisht,

Princesha Vetëtin e Mug.

Gjebrea was rather touched by this. Evidently these “ponies” led lives not unlike humans did-- judging from their vocabulary, it seemed they lived in their equivalent of the late 20ᵗʰ century or the early 21ˢᵗ, but the level of technology described was more consistent with the 17ᵗʰ. And during all that time, they still had strong moral codes that many humans still lacked: compassion, selflessness, and friendliness-- traits Gjebrea hadn’t seen even in the Albanian Imperial Naval forces.

And the Changelings are essentially the opposite of the ponies. But they were sapient enough to recognize Gjebrea as a stranger-- so, technically, Gjebrea may have already made first contact at the campsite.

There was also mention of two Princesses Celestia and Luna, “raising” the sun and moon. Gjebrea found that hard to believe-- it was really an illusion caused by the planet rotating, and the moon orbiting around the planet. These were pre-Christian beliefs-- now it was pretty difficult placing these ponies into the proper equivalent time period.

Now for a moral dilemma: Should he trust them? His logic took the following route:

I’ve made first contact with them. I’m still alive, right here, right now. I’ve been hit in the head, somehow, at the campsite. I have survived such an impact. At any time during that blackout, these ponies could have decided to kill me at their discretion. The ponies have not killed me, because I am still alive.

However, simply because they haven’t killed me isn’t any security for the future. Why, some higher power could be plotting my death right now. If I’m going to survive on this world, I’d better watch my back. So to conclude, no, I shouldn’t trust them. If they want my trust, they’d better earn it.

He went over to an open window and looked out. Using his HUDcom’s zoom function, he found that the whole population was made up of these ponies.

And they were nothing like the red, grey, and white horses he was used to seeing on New Tiranë. He saw purple, pink, lime green, just about every color of the rainbow. The manes were even more stylish. Besides being more colorful (one pony’s had all the colors of the rainbow), they were styled up in all sorts of ways. The tails tended to match the manes.

Additionally, some of these ponies had wings, and others had unicorn horns, just like at the campsite. Gjebrea thought they were vestigial, until one Pegasus flew rapidly very close to his position, nearly clipping him. The horns were used to levitate objects, through apparent telekinesis. Some ponies had neither of these, but only a select few had both.

All of them, save for some of the young, had what looked like tattoos on their hindquarters. He didn’t know their purpose, if they even had one, but they seemed to line up to some degree with their jobs.

Whilst staring out the window, Gjebrea knew he had to be careful. He needed to escape, sure, but he didn’t know what these ponies were capable of.

To give him an idea of his immediate location, he used his HUDcom’s “Carto” function to map out the surrounding. What this did was take several dozen photographs, with varying angles, lighting, and zoom settings, then construct a map based on it. He manually set the compass to center on the wreck of the Përballim, with the campsite indicating north.

The HUDcom projected the results of the Carto onto the floor. In a gray monochromatic hologram, it showed he was located on the third floor of a rather small-sized castle, oddly shaped as a tree. Brilliant architecture! he thought.

A large mountain was seen some fifty-two kilometers north-north-west of the wreck. Perched seemingly delicately on its side was a large looming castle, and possibly a city.

The village surrounding this tree-like castle was located some fifty-nine kilometers north of the wreck.

Any other features? Gjebrea couldn’t spot any. Now let’s get down to business, he thought.

Before he could start to trace out his route, he heard what sounded like horseshoes against marble approaching the door. He quickly stopped the projection, as the door opened to show a violet-colored winged Unicorn. Recalling the letter at the bedside, he figured it was an Alicorn-- having the traits of all three other species.

“Greetings, Sergeant Gjebrea,” she said. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

He didn’t know what to do. He would draw his pistol, but she showed no threat. He would try talking to her, but he didn’t speak English. So he simply stood there while Twilight continued talking.

“Since you are new to Equestria, I was thinking of taking you on a tour of Ponyville, to familiarize yourself with our world.”

Finally, he found his words. „Më fal,“ he stated, „por unë nuk flas anglisht.“ (I’m sorry, but I don’t speak English.)

“Oh! That’s right!” she said “You’re not from around here, excuse me a second.” She stepped out and told a guard to fetch an interpreter.

While the guard was away, Twilight tried to communicate with Gjebrea nonverbally. She pointed to his pistol, on his bedside table, and raised an eyebrow, indicating, “What is that?” Or in Albanian, „Çfarë është kjo?“

Gjebrea saw her expressions as highly human, so he took a risk and said, „Kjo është pistoletë im. Mos e prekni atë.“ (That is my pistol. Don’t touch it.)

When Twilight went to touch it anyway, he waved his hand between it and her. „Ju lutem. Ju mund të dëmtojë veten.“ (Please. You could hurt yourself.)

Twilight backed off. Using the same expression, she pointed to his armor.

Gjebrea looked where she was pointing. „Kjo është mburojë im. Ajo ka asgjë si mburojë tuaj.“ (That is my armor. It’s nothing like your armor.)

He wasn’t bluffing, either. His armor used covalent photons, nicknamed “hard-light,” as a form of energy shielding, with Kevlar and ceramic plating underneath for backup.

The interpreter arrived in a few minutes, and asked, “What is your bidding, Your Highness? What language does he speak?”

“I wish I knew,” said Twilight. “It sounds like gibberish to me!”

“Gibberish?”

„Unë flas shqip,“ said Gjebrea. (I speak Albanian.)

The interpreter gasped in shock. “Oh, Celestia!" He turned to Twilight and told her, "Your Highness, he speaks a dying language! --Albanian!” He turned back to Gjebrea and asked, „A flisni ndonjë gjuhë tjetër përveç shqip?“ (Do you speak anything else besides Albanian?)

„Jo,“ Gjebrea replied, subtly surprised that Albanian was spoken on this world. „Vetëm shqip.“ (No. Only Albanian.) (This wasn’t true, but he doubted these ponies would know anything about constructed languages, like Esperanto.)

“He doesn’t speak anything else, Your Highness,” said the interpreter. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” said Twilight. “It’s not your fault. You’ll simply have to come on our outing to Ponyville, whenever he says something.”

“Well, of course”

“It’s settled, then,” said Twilight. “Come now, Sergeant! Our tour begins!”

The interpreter relayed, „Eja tani, Rreshter! Turneu fillon!“

„Prisni, çfarë?“ blurted Gjebrea. „Çfarë po bëjmë?“ (Wait, what? What are we doing?)

„Princess Twilight është duke marrë ju në një turne të Ponyville,“replied the interpreter, „të ju njoh me shoqërinë tonë.“ (Princess Twilight is taking you on a tour of Ponyville, to familiarize you with our society.)

„Oh,“ said Gjebrea, grabbing his trench-coat and following them out the door. „Tani më thoni.“ (Oh. Now you tell me.)

“Would you mind telling me why Albanian is moribund?” Twlilight asked the interpreter whilst walking down the hall.

“Some six hundred years ago or so,” replied the interpreter, “Almaneia was engaged in a territorial war with Thesstallioniki. After the Almaneians surrendered to the Thesstallionikians at the Battle of Peloponnyse, and the war declared over, Greek started to overtake Albanian as the local lingua franca.”

“How come you speak it, then?” Twilight turned to the interpreter, confused.

“Princess Celestia’s orders. According to her, Albanian remains a highly-favored language among the Almaneian court. --She wants all royal interpreters to be ready to use it when necessary.”

Gjebrea had no idea what the conversation was about, but he thought he recognized a few heavily-corrupted Greek terms in their speech-- Thessaloniki and Peloponnese. It was about this time the trio exited the building out into the streets of this town called Ponyville.

Walking the streets, it became manifest that the locals weren’t used to having humans near them. Most of them backed off from him, from fear of what he may do. One, however, was brave enough to venture near him, noting everything about his person, from his gait to his speech, et cetera. She was lime green-furred, with a green-and-white mane and tail, golden irises, and a lute-like musical instrument visible on her hindquarters. Gjebrea regarded her with some suspicion-- just what was she trying to do with him?

Ah, never mind, he thought. Let’s just get this tour finished before I freeze. . . .