Act 0 Part 1: a History Lesson and Introductions (lightly edited)
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Act 0 Part 1: a History Lesson and Introductions (lightly edited)
Space: The Final Frontier.
For thousands of years, the Residents of the planet Airus have looked up to the stars, and wondered what was out there in the deep void of outer space. And so they invented telescopes; great lenses that could see far away, to get a better look at whatever was out there. However the intriguing things they saw only made them more curious. They wanted to explore the planets and satellites they saw, they wanted to know if they, or any other life could thrive on other planets or moons.
It was 1134 AA (After Ascent) when the first magic powered Space Rockets made trips to the Moon, before that year this was a feat only the Alicorns of legend Celestia and Luna could perform.
After those original moon landings occurred, for a few hundred years almost all the scientists and engineers of the planet were scrambling to find more efficient and faster methods of space travel, and after four-hundred years of research the very first cost-efficient, fuel-efficient FTL drive was created. Another twenty or so years after that, and anti-gravity cores that were created for airships long ago were modified into versions usable with Spacecraft.
However… The magical energy of the planet was being drained in large amounts by these machines, regardless of the fuel-efficiency. And so another problem formed. The planet needed to regenerate the magical energy that had been taken from it, or else catastrophic events may happen. Unfortunately, an alternative power source couldn’t be found, and all space experiments were shut down until the planet could recover.
Even longer after that the experiments resumed, a new generation took the wheel, and started going through the old books and notes of long gone researchers, and so it began again. This time with much more success.
A new way of using magical energy was invented, this method used the energy in such a way that the magical energy could be returned to the planet, it was a revolutionary discovery.
Finally, the first Space Ships were finally created. At the time though, they were quite expensive, and were only really available to the rich and the governments of the world.
Eventually though, the residents of Airus learned they were not alone in the universe, and that there were millions of other races out there.
However, this story is not about that.
It is not about the races of Airus discovering alien life, it’s not about an epic war over control of a galaxy or the universe or whatever.
This is the story of a Mare, this is the story of her adventures in space, her adventures with whoever she finds along the way, it is a story that could be very short, or maybe even very long? Who knows? I certainly don’t, that’s for sure. What happens, will happen.
Now then, who is this mare? What is her name? What does she look like? What does she do in life? I’m sure some of you are asking this question. And so I, the narrator will answer that question right now.
This mare’s name is Comet Lily, she’s a twenty-six year old unicorn. She has a light-blue coat, and a long dark-purple mane, she has no cutie mark despite her age.
Comet Lilly’s entire life was a mess, she had a pretty bad gambling problem (in fact, she still does) and ended up in seriously bad debt. She had no way to pay her loans, so she sold herself to pay off the money as a last resort at the age of twenty-one, the five years after that were complete hell, all sorts of awful beings bought her, used her, and then put her back on the market to make a quick buck when they didn’t have a use for her anymore.
Currently she was possessed by a very strange human, he wasn’t as terrible as the others who had purchased her before, but still, he was quite clingy.
Now then, I believe that's all the exposition for now. Let's get this started!
Comet Lilly awoke to a very sunny morning, her eyes burning in the intense light.
And so there she was, laying in bed, her master’s arms wrapped around the pony as he slept.
It disgusted her, having to act like she loved and cared about the rich fool.
She squirmed out of his grip and got off the bed, then exited the room into the vast third-floor hallway. She made her way down to the shower room and entered, she had a cool shower, got out and dried off, then returned to her owner’s room, he would probably freak out if she wasn’t there once he woke up.
Once she returned she looked at herself in the mirror. Her mane was a mess, so she grabbed a brush with her hooves and got to work, her horn, as well as the magic seal on it was now visible after the mane was properly brushed.
And so she waited there for him to awaken, occasionally looking out the window at the vast gardens outside, and the wall trapping the pony inside.
Today was the day, the day she might just be able to escape this wretched place.
You see, the security in the mansion was actually pretty loose in comparison to the previous places she’s been, there’s just security cameras, some guards, and the walls, there might have been a few turrets on the wall but that didn’t make much of a difference. She was able to find a hole in security, and was somehow able to exploit it to contact an old friend who owed her a favour or two, so long as they didn’t have any problems, someone should sneak in today to get her out of there.
So she went on with her day, a smile on her face, hoping things go alright.
In Earth’s orbit
A Floran sat in her spaceship, lounging around, and overall looking pretty bored.
*beep beep beep*
Suddenly, someone started calling her, she let the video phone ring a little to pretend she was in the middle of something, and then answered.
The video feed said “Audio Only” in bold letters.
“Yess? Who iss thiss?” She asked.
“It’s me.” a masculine voice very familiar to her said.
“Bossss? Why iss there no video?” The Floran asked.
“Shush, I’m trying to act all mysterious.” The voice responded.
“Sso then your camera broke?” The Floran asked with a smile.
“...”
“I’m right, aren’t I?” She said.
“... Yes, and it was an expensive one too.” The Boss responded.
“Well that ssucks dude, you’ll jusst have to get a new one.” The Floran responded.
“Yeah, anyways, I’m calling to make sure you remember the mission.” The Boss said.
“Sstop worrying, I know I’m ssupposed to ssneak into the mansion at night, no fireworkss or anything fancy, try not to kill too much, get your pony friend, and get out fast.” The Floran replied.
“Good, call me once you escape, okay?” The Boss asked.
“Got it.” The floran replied.
“I’m counting on you, Bonepetal.” The Boss said.
“Whatever.” The floran replied.
The Boss hung up.
Bonepetal sighed. “Thiss is going to be a pain in the assss, issn’t it?” Bonepetal said.
Act 0 Part 2: Escape (Unedited)
So, Bonepetal.
Bonepetal was a Floran, so let’s talk about them for a bit, just to get you up to speed some more.
Florans are a race of peaceful looking plant-like people, they live scattered throughout the universe in small tribes that appeared to be very primitive. Little did people know when they first discovered the race though, there was more to this race than what met the eye.
Let me tell you a short story.
The first beings that discovered the race contacted the floran tribe, hoping to talk peace and such.
The Florans at first were very kind to the humans that appeared, and treated them kindly, however not long after they showed their true colours.
In the middle of the night, the humans were dragged away while they slept. They awoke in cold cells underground, and learned something. They were not the first to discover the Florans. The cells were full of live and dead aliens and humans, they were horrified.
In those cells they learned of the Floran’s true nature, and their fate.
The Florans were actually tricksters, liars, or whatever you may want to call them.
Florans fooled other races that made contact with them, imprisoned them, ate them dead or alive, and then stole the technology of the other races in order to improve their own chances for survival in the universe of constantly-changing technology.
Somehow though, one of those humans escaped, he was able to escape before their ships were taken apart, and warn people of the Florans.
Of course, there are also peaceful Florans, however most of the race are psychopaths that love to kill, love to taste the flesh and blood of their enemies, and have a great curiosity for other technologies.
And that’s all for this chapter’s history lesson.
Comet Lilly sat in a grand dining room as the sun set. She tried to hide her excitement about her coming escape, although she was having some difficulty.
“Lilly, what’s with that grin?” her captor asked.
She quickly thought up a lie.
“The sunset is just so beautiful, it’s hard not to smile while admiring such a beautiful sight.” She replied.
“Well, it is quite breathtaking.” He responded.
A Butler entered the room with the two’s food.
“Thank goodness, I’m starving!” The human said.
Later…
Lilly stretched out in her chair, dinner was as fantastic as ever.
It was now quite dark out, and the moon was beginning to rise.
The man and the mare retired to their bedroom for the night…
Bonepetal sat in her ship looking so incredibly bored. she got so bored waiting for the right time to start her mission that she ended up watching some trashy Earth reality show. For five hours straight. Nothing else was on, don’t blame her.
*BZZZZZZZT*
An alarm sounded, signifying the best time to begin her quest.
She jolted up, wiped the drool off her face, and turned on the navigation system and silent engine on her ship.
The slightly less bored Floran began, she quickly entered Earth’s atmosphere.
The navigation then pointed her in the right direction, and she quickly flew to her destination.
The Floran landed quite a distance away from her destination, she had no clue what kind of security they had, so it’s best to just be safe about it. So she grabbed her stuff, and started to walk the rest of the distance through a dense forest.
When she approached, she discovered that the security actually wasn’t that bad. It was really more for keeping people in she guessed. Although she did take note of the manned turrets and the several guards around the entrance.
Bonepetal looked around from the treeline for a much less-guarded place to enter, and quickly found one.
She scaled the wall before anyone could notice her, and jumped into a nearby bush.
The Floran searched the entire grounds for guards, but it seemed like there wasn’t any more guards.
However as she approached the building she noticed something else.
There were security cameras at just about every entrance or exit to the house, for all she knew she could have been seen already.
Camera’s are definitely a pain, but thankfully she prepared for this.
While hiding in a bush, she opened her bag and quickly began to put on a grey uniform. Once she was wearing the entire outfit, it started to almost seamlessly blend into her surroundings. Minus a few occasional distortions she was entirely invisible. The Floran then held down a button on the handle of her bag, and it too began to camouflage itself.
Then Bonepetal started scaling the wall of the building, looking for an entrance that didn’t have a camera watching it.
Eventually she found a small window leading into a bathroom on the second floor, she opened it and just barely squeezed in, falling to the floor with a thud.
‘Alright, almost halfway done this stupid job.’ The Floran thought to herself.
After searching the building as carefully as possible, Bonepetal found her target.
Inside a nice bedroom there was the Mare she was looking for, in the arms of some Human, probably the guy who bought her.
‘Now then… How the hell do I get her out of his arms without him noticing?’ Bonepetal wondered.
She tried to remove his arms, but the guy had a pretty solid grip. Sliding the mare out didn’t work either.
So then she had no choice…
Bonepetal began prying his arms off of the pony, throwing away any bit of stealth and gentleness.
And it surprisingly worked, the pony now safe in her arms, Bonepetal quietly tiptoed towards the door.
Suddenly, the floor creaked as she took a step. And the man started to stir in his sleep…
But he didn’t wake up.
She continued to walk, and then almost tripped on some rope left on the floor.
As she walked, a grand piano that was above her head just seconds ago crashed into the ground.
The floran looked at the man, a look of horror on her face.
Still sawing logs.
‘How the hell did he sleep through that?’ she thought.
As she closed the rest of the distance to the door, she felt her nose itch and tingle.
‘Whatever, wouldn’t matter if I sneezed.’ Bonepetal thought.
“ECHHHUUUUU!!” The floran let out a sneeze.
“WHO’S THERE?!” The man yelled as he woke up.
“You’re fucking kidding me.” Bonepetal said.
The Floran bolted.
“AW HAIL NAW!” The man yelled as she ran away with the still sleeping pony in her arms.
As Bonepetal ran through the halls an alarm sounded.
“God fucking dammit!” She yelled.
She slammed open the front door and found some guards pointing guns in her general direction, they looked pretty confused though considering all they could see was a floating, sleeping pony. Although they connected the dots pretty fast.
“Give us the pony, and we might spare you!” One of the guards, presumably the captain said.
“Fuck no!” Bonepetal responded.
She turned off the camouflage, no use in using it now.
It was then and there that Bonepetal decided that she had to do something stupid if she wanted to get out of this situation alive.
And so she did something stupid.
She quickly removed the magic limiter on the pony in her arms, and with all her strength launched her into the air.
Comet Lilly woke up with a jolt, as she felt something she hadn’t felt in years.
Magic.
She could sense it, and the feeling was amazing.
However, she didn’t have much time to assess the situation, because almost as soon as she woke up she found herself flying through the sky.
Lilly opened her mouth to scream.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” The unicorn screamed.
The guards were dumbfounded, they couldn’t believe their eyes.
And so it was a perfect distraction.
Bonepetal reached into her bag, and pulled out a Zweihander, about twice as long as the actual bag.
“Where are you looking?” The Floran asked the guards.
As they returned to threatening the Floran, several guards found themselves with a face full of giant sharp two-hander.
As Comet Lilly flew through the sky, she observed someone in a grey uniform and mask ruthlessly ripping apart the guards below.
“Holy shit.” She mouthed.
And then she started to fall.
She opened her mouth again.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
Bonepetal jumped over the bodies of the mutilated and murdered guards, and ran full speed ahead, she smashed through the entrance gate, and continued running.
The Floran went into a slide to make up the last bit of distance, and caught the falling Mare with little difficulty.
She then proceeded to run towards her ship.
Unfortunately though, she now had a new problem.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
It seemed like the mare was a little shocked.
And that problem caused another problem.
The guards manning the turrets opened fire as the Floran ran into the forest.
As soon as she noticed what was going to happen, she threw Comet Lilly into the forest area.
“Run fast! You’ll find my ship if you keep heading that way!” Bonepetal yelled.
And then with excellent precision, a few hundred bullets found themselves inside Bonepetal’s body, as she collapsed on the ground, dead within seconds.
Comet Lilly was confused, and horrified as she ran through the forest full speed, she could hear yelling from behind her, it probably won’t take them too long to find her.
However, she quickly found a clearing in the forest with a small, dark blue ship landed right in the center.
Comet quickly found her way inside the ship, and sat down at the pilot seat.
She tried to start the Engines, however… It wouldn’t start.
She didn’t have any keys.
“Oh gods.”