I turned away from my telescope to jot down more notes on what I had just seen. After recording the position and intensity of the stars I moved my telescope to the next position and repeated the process. Astronomy was fascinating, even more so since Princess Luna's return several years prior.
When I was growing up as a filly, and for almost a thousand years prior, the night sky had remained fairly static. While Princess Celestia had changed the phases of the moon in her sister's absence she did not alter the stars. Many modern scholars had assumed that Princess Celestia only had the ability to affect the sun and moon. I asked her once if she could.
The Princess didn't usually take time to answer questions that weren't presently relevant from nobles or scholars. While the Princess could theoretically end most historical debates by simply telling archaeologists, by virtue of being there thousands of years ago, she simply chose not to. And nearly all had given up asking such questions. So I was surprised that this time she did.
"Twilight, I was never meant to rule the night sky. I don't share the same connection with the moon that I do with the sun and it is much more taxing to do so. I cannot squander what energy I have left, which I may need to use to protect my little ponies from danger at any moment, by manipulating other celestial bodies. I did try though. When I first began to govern the night, I attempted to paint a new masterpiece in the sky ever night just as my... Just as had been done before my rule. But my skill was that of a foal compared to the majesty of a master artisan. So after many nights of attempts, I returned the stars to the way they had been and there they have remained since."
Since Princess Luna's return the stars had begun to change in fantastic ways. The heavens really were beautiful to behold at night. Recently though, the astronomers had had enough with this new development saying that the stars were moving about in unpredictable ways and as such were impossible to study. The Princess had literally laughed them out of Night court, with the Canterlot voice proclaiming, "THOU SHOULD LOOK WITH GREATER SCRUTINY IF THOU WISH TO UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF OUR NIGHT."
Needless to say, upon reading of this incident my curiosity was aroused. After careful observation and recording of data, Princess Luna's meaning became clear. Princess Luna did not actually move the stars. She changed their luminosity, changing their brightness as to paint her sky with them. Dimming them when needed as to obscure them from all but the most observant. She did not alter the North Star at all and always left it as the most brilliant star to help those that traveled by night. It did make it impossible to judge distances by measuring a stars brightness since it was being magnified or diminished. Maybe Princess Luna would agree to removing all alterations every once in a while so that astronomers could take accurate measurements for their calculations. Assuming those theories still held true.
I had just finished repositioning my telescope for my next observation. And it was then that I saw something out of place through my telescope. A shooting star. I looked up in time to see it over on the horizon. It came streaking across the sky towards Ponyville. Before I could do more than stare in awe at the sight, the star shot over Ponyville with a roar that rattled windows. My eyes followed it's progress as it crashed into the Everfree Forest with a force that knocked books from shelves and me off my hooves. My precious telescope fell over with a clatter. I hoped it wasn't damaged but I had more important things to worry about as Ponyville was awakened by the disturbance. Already the panicked shouts of confused and scared ponies could be heard from my balcony.
"Spike? SPIKE!"
I teleported into my bed and spun about looking around for my number one assistant. There he was! The baby dragon was still asleep in his basket. It seemed not even an earthquake could rouse him. Of course I had something better than the distributed kinetic force of a minor earthquake. With my next thought and a touch of magic Spike's basket was upended and he was dropped onto the floor.
He flailed for a moment as he attempted to right himself. "I'm up! I'm UP!" This declaration was followed by a decidedly grumpy look. "What is it Twilight? You don't need my help to use the bathroom, do you?"
I did not appreciate his snark, even if I was prancing on the spot in my hurry to get going. "NO Spike! I need you to send a letter to the Princesses immediately. A large meteorite just crashed into Everfree, ponies are starting to panic, and I'm sure the royal guard will be helpful if the impact spooked anything dangerous out of the forest. The guard's presence should also help calm and reassure the populace that everything is under control."
Before I had even finished speaking, Spike was already scribbling way. I began to concentrate on my teleportation spell when another thought occurred to me. "If any pony comes looking for me, tell them I've already gone to investigate." I received a nod of confirmation from him over the top of the scroll before winking away.
Several ponies had ventured outside of their homes and were running about adding to the commotion as I teleported before Carousel Boutique. Rarity being the closest of the other elements to the library it was the logical destination. Three hurried, but precise, knocks later with no immediate response and I let myself in. This was an emergency after all and ponies rarely locked their doors in Ponyville anyway.
Rarity had been making her way hurriedly down the stairs from her living space above the boutique. Her magic was a glow as she hurriedly made herself presentable. "Twilight darling, what on Earth is the matter?"
I told her as quickly as I could what I told Spike while she applied eye shadow. Working several bushes through her mane, coat, and tail all at once. "I need you to inform Mayor Mare what has happened and then to assist with trying to calm and reassure the town. Get Pinkie to help. Calm might not be in her vocabulary but she definitely knows how to make every pony smile."
"Very well Twilight, I'll be off then." And with that so was I in a flash of magic.
I reappeared near the edge of Ponyville and about as high up as I felt comfortable going. I could see Rainbow's cloud house up ahead on my level. It was tilted at a noticeable angle but any further thought was lost as I began to plummet. I snapped my wings open so I wouldn't crash back to earth like a unicorn normally would. I was still getting used to this whole wings business so gliding was the only thing solidly in my ability for the time being. But from my perspective I could see the glow of fire within the depths of the Everfree Forest. I tilted my wings down a few degrees more to increase my acceleration. Pulling myself through the air using telekinesis was incredibly inefficient. If I "flew" like I had during my coronation I would have been drained by the time I reached the site. Planning ahead I needed to conserve my magic so that I wouldn't be too tired to take on an Ursa Minor again if the need arose.
My unsteady flight was almost made disastrous as Rainbow Dash flew by me. Her fly by disturbing the otherwise calm air around me. She then came to a stop right before me as I was struggling not to loose control. "Twilight what's going on? I was asleep and then next think I know I've been knocked out of my bed by a gust so strong it nearly rolled my cloud house."
"Rainbow! I'm glad a bumped into you. I was just on my way to see you. I need you to go get Flutteryshy. I'll fly to Sweet Apple Acres to get Applejack and then head towards Fluttershy's cottage to meet up with you both."
"Okay, but why..."
"We are probably going to need both of their expertise to keep Ponyville safe."
"Applebucking? Really?"
"No Rainbow. Just... just go get Fluttershy. Applejack and I will meet you both by the edge of the forest." She shrugged but nodded and took off like a bolt. The Rainbow contrail streaking over in the direction of Fluttershy's while I continued to glide down towards the Apple residence.
It wasn't much longer till I was over Sweet Apple Acres and the galloping of hooves below drew my attention. There she was! Applejack was already heading towards the disturbance. I called her name to get her attention as I spilled air from my wings so I could land beside her.
She looked up and waved but continued to run down the dirt road. I was only a few meters above her when I realized I was coming in a little fast and had to back flap hard to keep myself from crashing horribly. It was far from my best landing but I still landed on my hooves so I was ready to call it a victory before my front left hoof caught on something and I went face first into the dirt making it another failed landing. Thankfully Applejack was quick reach where I had crashed and to help me up.
"Lan sakes girl, ya almost had that one." She grabbed my foreleg and pulled me to my hooves. I could see she had her lasso with her too. Good we might need that later. "Glad ta see lessons with Rainbow have been doin' somethin' for ya. Still Ah get the feelin' landings weren't ever RD's specialty neither. Now mind tellin' me what in tar nation is causing all this ruckus?"
My chin stung from where I had scraped it on a rock but it was easy enough to ignore. "In a minute Applejack. We need to meet up with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as well." Without further warning whisked us away.
We reappeared by the edge of the forest, about halfway between Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttery's home. But after a quick glance around I was able to confirms the absence of our friends. And with that I teleported the pair of us straight to Fluttershy's cottage.
The moment we materialized, Applejack put a hoof to her mouth like she might be sick. I looked on in mild concern until she put her hoof down. "First time teleporting?"
A nod, "Good gravy, warn a pony afore ya do that. My innards feel all like a pit of snakes. Ya sure ya didn't put anythin' in the wrong place?"
I was more than happy to explain the basics of teleportation to a curious party. "I'm not breaking down your body or anything. That's transmutation. What I am actually doing is telekinetically exciting the particles within your body to the point that they move at near light speed. This is what allows the almost instant transportation and the ability to pass through objects as if they aren't even there, known as quantum tunneling. It would of course be impossible for all but the strongest unicorns if it were done for any significant length of time which is why it is much easier to do as a series of small jumps instead of a single long one. The drain on the user's magic increases by a factor of..."
My lesson on advanced telekinesis was interrupted when the window burst open and Rainbow Dash flew out with a pink, checkered bundle over her shoulder. "Hey! Glad you could make it. So Twilight now will you please tell me what's up?" She was now close enough that I could make out the butterflies on the fabric. Which would make it likely to be Fluttershy's bedspread. This thought was confirmed when I saw the bundle move of it's own accord.
With a sign I put my hoof to my face and rubbed the base of my horn. "Yes Rainbow I'll tell you now that we are together but how about you let Fluttershy out to participate. I wanted you to fetch her not kidnap her."
Rainbow was quick to defend herself. "WHAT! This was the only way! I tried to coax her out but she refused to come out from hiding under her blanket so I figured I would let her hold onto it while I 'escorted' her as rapidly as possible." With her defense concluded she gently set Fluttershy and the blanket on the ground.
I bent down as I addressed the shivering lump, "Fluttershy, I know your scared but we need your help and so do the animals."
The tremors didn't stop but a yellow snout stuck out of the blanket and I could see those large blue eyes staring back at me. *Sniff* "what about the animals," came the teary reply.
"A meteorite fell in Everfree. It woke all of Ponyville and now ponies are running around in a panic. Imagine just how scared the creatures in Everfree must be. I'm worried they might stampede through town which is why I went to get Applejack. But while Applejack is good at herding animals, it's really important that you be there to help calm them down like how you took care of that manticore when we first became friends. Do you think you can do that for us Fluttershy? For them?" It was only a little nod but it was a nod.
Rainbow was already doing a victory dance above our heads. "OH YEAH, we got this! What about the rest of us Twilight? Are we going to go on a badflank adventure and stomp out a new villan while AJ and Flutters are foiling the first part of their evil plan?"
"NO Rainbow! Rarity and Pinkie are seeing to the town right now. Your going to help Applejack and Fluttershy with controlling the animals. Most ponies run from danger but just in case I also want you to keep them back. We don't need the Crusaders to show up and try to get cutie marks in monster taming."
The blue pegasus visually slumped and dropped a few centimeters in the air. "Fine. what about you, Twilight?"
"I'm going to fly out to the impact site and put out those fires. With those out I'm hoping anything really dangerous won't leave the forest. If anything big is headed towards Ponyville I should be able to see it headed towards us and can hopefully turn it away before it even leaves Everfree."
Rainbow was spluttering over her next words even before I had finished. "Th-That's just crazy talk Twilight! I could totally fly out there and put out those flames. Bringing the rain is what us pegasi do.
"She's right sugercube," added Applejack. "A might faster than you too. Your also a princess now, and the Everfree forest is a mighty dangerous place."
"Exactly," I protested. "I was the most powerful unicorn of this and the last generation, at least. Now that I'm an alicorn I'm even stronger. I have earth pony as well as pegasi magic now too. If any one of us should go into the forest alone it should be me. I'll be back as soon as I've taken care of the fires and inspected the meteorite. Meteorites rarely make it to Equis' surface. I at least need to get a sample and to scan it to ensure it doesn't have any dangerous magical properties. Unless I'm mistaken, no pony else knows how to do that."
The orange earth pony gave me a long look before turning towards the forest. "Come on girls. Let's go keep them critters from causin' a ruckus in town. Ah recon Twi knows what she's doin'." Fluttershy followed behind the her.
I turned my gaze away from them to find Rainbow hovering in front of me, nearly nose to nose. I received several prods to my chest before she delivered her ultimatum."If you're not back once the forest has settled down I'm coming in after you. Rainbow Dash does NOT leave her friends hanging." Message sent, she shot like an arrow after Applejack and Fluttershy.
Now with my friends hurrying towards the forest, I decided I would do the same. And once again I teleported away.
If Rainbow Dash could see my flight pattern she might have revoked any implication that I was ever cool. Once I teleported to my maximum altitude, I would glide back down to the tree tops of the forest before teleporting back up and beginning my decent. I wouldn't have called it flying, falling and never hitting the ground would be more accurate. Still it was much less taxing on my magic than a single teleportation, or even many short but rapid jumps. Of course I new every theoretical facet on flight from my studies. Unfortunately that theory didn't translate well to operating two new appendages or channeling magic through them, like all pegasi did to fly.
Eventually the impact site came into view. The pillar of smoke and the glow of several fires made it rather easy to spot. As I drew closer and could see the crater, which until now had been obscured by the tree cover, something didn't seem right. Such a large meteor must have been going slower than it had been when it passed over Ponyville to leave such a small crater. That or the meteorite was much smaller than it appeared in the sky. How low had it flown to appear so large and cause such a disturbance.
The object itself was obscured by the huge quantities of smoke so it's size would have to wait till after I took care of the fires. After a quick glance around, I failed to see any clouds nearby. They were probably dispersed by the impact. Just as well, seeing as Rainbow had yet to teach me about weather manipulation. Upon landing, thankfully better than my last attempt, my horn began to glow as I gathered the magic needed. At first I gathered water from the air around me but there was so little of it in the air I was only able to put out one of the smaller fires. I tried again, this time transmuting the air around me into water. That only resulted in a trickle. Of course there wasn't nearly enough hydrogen present to make that feasible. In the end I resorted to smothering the fire with dirt, lots of dirt. Not especially elegant but it got the job done.
That still left the main source of smoke in the center of the depression. I didn't want to risk contaminating or possibly damaging the meteorite further by burying it in dirt. Meteor strikes might be incredibly rare but they weren't unheard of. Any that were recovered were among the most prized center pieces of a museum's geological display. Knowing that a fire could be put out if deprived of oxygen, I erected a shield the size of a boulder around the base of the smoke. I could feel that something other than the ground was passing through my shield even though it was air tight. I tried again making this shield large enough to surround an entire house. Still I could feel the pressure that told me the shield wasn't large enough. Fed up, I covered the entire crater with a one way shield and began to slowly contract it. As the shield grew smaller and smaller, I flapped my wings to blow the smoke away. Upon seeing the first glimpse of the obscured object I almost allowed my shield to fizzle out.
A large metal structure was revealed as more of the smoke was dissipated. Large didn't do it justice. It was massive. Like looking at an apartment complex on it's side instead of upright like in the cities. Easily several times larger than any single structure in Ponyville. Even blacked by scorch marks the grey metal was beautiful with it's sharp lines and precise angles. When all the smoke was gone all I could do was stare open mouthed at the sight before me.
I began to circle the structure, making observations and committing them to memory. Unfortunately I had not been expecting such a discovery and had neglected to bring any writing utensils with me. The structure didn't look like a building so much as a humongous airship without the suspension balloon. The side closest to me appeared to be a series of large holes in varying sizes arranged in a symmetrical pattern. It had a proportionately stubby wing-like protrusion on either side with more of these holes. I quickly discovered that these holes were all over the ship in what was obviously a pattern of some kind, the purpose of which eluded me at the moment. There were windows at regular intervals along the sides. I teleported up to one but was unable to see inside because it was covered by a plate of metal. It was also narrower at one end which was pointing west, towards town. There were two thick blue stripes running down its length. It had obviously suffered some sever damage judging by the cracks and melted holes I could see. Coming up to the narrower end I was unable to contain my excitement any longer at what I was saw.
"YES! YES! YES!"
Having calmed down enough to stop prancing about like a filly who just got her cutie mark, my eyes were once again focused exclusively on the blocky runes before me. They where completely different from anything I was familiar with from my studies. It was obvious this object must have been made but here was proof that it was made by an unknown civilization which had it's own previously unknown writing system, culture, and knowledge. I was so excited! There was so much to learn before me. And I was going to learn it all!
"Spike make a note," and that was when I remembered that I had left Spike at the library and that, unlike him, I did not always have writing utensils on my self. I could of course transmute myself the supplies but I didn't want them to change back and loose all the notes I had taken. I let out a sigh at the thought that recording any findings would have to wait till later.
I teleported atop the front of the construct. I could see a large window that was also covered by an equally large metal plate. This protrusion looked similar to an enclosed balcony so that one could look out over the rest of the structure, assuming it was right way up of course. I also noticed that the structure had come to rest with a noticable tilt of the 'snout' downward. There was also a few domed structures on either side of me as I trotted up towards the 'tail' end. I had noticed something similar on what little of the underside I could see. I wondered what they could be for and how much of this had been buried in the crash.
Another interesting observation I made was while the right side was in fairly good condition the left was easily the more damaged of the two. The melted holes and warped metal was much more abundant. The most noticeable of which was a large hole that went straight through from top to bottom. It was wide enough that my bedroom could have easily fit inside it. What could have possibly caused such a thing?
Upon further examination from the edge of the hole, I could see that it had clipped a corridor of some kind. The opening was too small for a pony to get through. A filly or colt perhaps but not a mare such as myself. But the hole was large enough that I could see enough to teleport safely, with the help of a little magic for lighting. Teleportation to unseen locations was a bit risky but with enough information about your surroundings you wouldn't appear in something. With that thought, I teleported into the breach.
I found myself in a dim, metal hallway that smelled of smoke. I had expected the hall to be completely dark but there was a very faint glow of light along the base of the walls. This made it easy to see where I was putting my hooves, if not much else. Every couple of meters the hall would be illuminated in a red glow from the ceiling . The remains of the smoke swirled near the ceiling, looking like grey mist in the low lighting.
It was a little ominous but not overly scary. Examining my surroundings in greater detail, I noticed a tall metal door in the wall. It was right across from the gaping hole and I preceded to attempt to open it. The door refused to swing inwards or be pulled outwards. There was a window set in the door, much higher up than a pony could normally see. So I reared up, placing my front hooves on the door for balance and peered inside. The room was dark. Until a spot light flickered on inside for a moment. Providing a glimpse of what was inside.
There was blood everywhere.
I screamed and flung myself away from the window, wings spread wide in terror. I had no time to devote further thought to this prime example of fight or flight instinct as I scrambled back to my hooves.
Once upright and ready to run a thought occurred to me, nothing had happened. I was still standing alone in a somewhat creepy alien construct and had been startled. But aside from that nothing had happened. The door hadn't burst open, there was no noise but for me and the occasional spark, and nothing had appeared to take advantage of my momentary weakness.
As I calmed, my wings retracted back to my sides. Even though I understood that one of the reasons a pegusi might involuntarily flair their wings was to appear larger to predators or in perpetration to flee, it was still an odd experience. Taking a deep breath to calm myself further, I looked through the window again. Another flicker of light. There was plenty of blood but it was mostly on a table, surrounded by odd tools also covered in blood. It was decidedly creepy and a better look at all that blood made me want to vomit but I persevered. Without more information I could not draw any solid conclusions of what that room was for. Celestia had once allowed me to sit in on a surgery to better understand pony anatomy. The setup appeared to be similar but without more information it was mostly just speculation. There hadn't been nearly that much blood though. Either that wasn't a room for healing or somepony had been hurt really really bad. Besides there was the chance it wasn't even blood at all. Hopefully.
I examined the door for a means to open it. There was no knob or handle. Nor did it swing inward when pressed on. I tried moving it with my magic but it wouldn't move. Using my magic I could feel the mechanisms in and around the door. I could also sense it was meant to slide into the wall but I couldn't figure out how to undo the lock. Or rather I couldn't undo it without ripping the door clean out of the wall. Not wanting to cause any more damage to this revolutionary scientific find, I left the door where it was. Still I continued examining the door and surrounding wall for a less destructive means of entry.
To the side of the door, about on level with the window, I came across more of the unknown writing. And about a third of the way to the floor beneath that a raised button that was flashing labeled Open along with several other labeled buttons that were not. Once again I cursed my lack of parchment and quill to record these findings with. I couldn't wait to learn this new language and learn everything else I could from here. Unfortunately a proper cataloging would have to wait till I had the proper supplies.
My eyes were drawn back to the flashing button. This one was flashing a bright blue light insistently at me. Curious, as I was sure that light had not been there before I looked through the window, I tried to touch it with my magic. Nothing. I redoubled my efforts but all I cloud sense was metal and mechanisms in the wall. Straining myself, I could just make out the faintest tickle of electricity. I had never encountered lights like these. Sure ponies had light bulbs which were powered by electricity but not like this, or even this small. Even one of similar brightness would have needed to be many times larger. With a more intense look at the dim lighting around me, it seemed that all the lighting were similar to this.
Within minutes of entering this place, I had discovered an advanced lighting system decades, possibly centuries, ahead of what Equestria already knew. With that in mind I reached out with my hoof to see what I could determine with a tactile approach. Before my hoof even touched the light, it vanished. Quickly, I looking about. I saw it again. Now it was flashing one door down on my right. I proceeded to follow the light. Before I even reached for the light this time it moved on to the next door. The blue light. The way it seemed to be leading me. It felt familiar. Like I should know what this meant.
Still the thirst to know drove me to follow. I retained the presence of mind to continue to take in every detail I could. So before following to the third door, I checked the second. It seemed to be the same bloody room as before. While it wasn't nearly as startling without the surprise, the creepy atmosphere was definitely putting me on edge. The writing appeared to be the same as before so I concluded if not just another entrance than the rooms most likely had a similar purpose.
I moved on, continuing to follow the light. Wasting no time, I attempted to touch the light.There was a click and a faint hiss as the third door opened with the press of the button marked Open.
I jumped back in alarm. My horn lit with magic, wings out. And waited, alert for anything else to happen for several heart throbbing seconds.Something was definitely going on. I had the distinctive feeling that I was being led somewhere. But the thought of all the knowledge locked away in this place was not something I could just turn away from. So with increased care I stepped through the open doorway marked Escape Capsule. Not that I could read it or anything.
Before passing over the threshold, I took a moment to take a good look around the room before I preceded. The room inside was small and circular, with five glass doors around the edge. Four of the doors were open with an orange light overhead. but one was closed with a green light above it. This room was noticeably colder than the rest of the ship which in itself was odd. What was beyond the glass door was obscured by the condensation that had formed over it. The little blue light I had been following was flashing away just to the right of this door. I continued, an ominous feeling settling in my stomach as the sense of familiarity increased yet I still couldn't place it.
The light hadn't moved. It just continued to blink. I cast about the room looking for what I was expected to do next. The opened doors didn't go anywhere. They looked like tall closets lined with padding. I turned back to the door before me and wiped a circle of condensation away. The surface was cold to the touch but all that I could see beyond the glass was darkness and what appeared to be ice. Was that it? Had I reached a dead end? No. It was pretty obvious I had been led here. I looked up at the light again and took a deep breath. There was nothing else for it. There was something here for me to find and I wasn't going to pass it up just because I felt uneasy. I let the breath I had been holding go and touched the blue light with my hoof again.
The green light began to flash orange. A very loud hiss filled the room and steam shot out from around the edge of the glass door. I backed away quickly, my open wings causing me to stumble slightly. With mounting horror, I finally remembered why this seemed familiar, and I was in so much trouble.
'Will-o-wisp': a spirit which appeared as a flickering light that would lead others into danger.
The door before me slide open even while my instincts were screaming at me to run! All I could do was look up at the figure amide the dim light and swirling vapors. Way up into the featureless face of the monster before me.
Author's Note
Please let me know what you think and leave constructive criticism. Is everyone in character? Any plot holes I need to fix? I'll come back and revise it after I've gotten some feed back. Hopefully everyone is curious where this is going.
The creature lunged towards me! The teleportation spell I had ready fizzled out as terror broke my concentration. Stubby tentacles protruding from the ends of its forelegs uncurled, ready to ensnare. Instinctually backing away when the door suddenly opened was the only thing that saved me from being caught. It slammed into the floor where I had, moments ago, been standing with a clatter of armored scales on metal flooring. Groaning, it began to rise up onto all fours but I had already spun about and was racing down the corridor.
I made it to the breach in the wall where I had first teleported in. I gathered the magic and tried to focus on someplace safe. Home! My library was the first place that came to mind but I had used so much magic getting here it was outside my range and my magic just sputtered out. I tried again. This time trying to think of a closer setting.
A flat, featureless face. No mouth, no ears, no snout, no eyes. Just a blue tinted, reflective surface. The creature's face.
I shuddered and tried to focus again but that face was all I could see. Could it have done this? Could it have the power to negate spells? Was that even possible?
There was a loud thunk from the room I had escaped from. Closely followed by the awful sound of retching and several liquidy splats.
I had to hide. Had to get away till I could focus enough to teleport myself to safety. Where? Where? WHERE?
I pranced in place. Looking about as I continued to panic. There was a square panel missing in the floor further down, away from the creature. I galloped over to it and looked inside. It was smaller tunnel.
At the sound of hoofsteps behind me, I jumped down with a clatter of hooves. The tunnel was large enough for a pony but I needed to duck my head down to avoid bumping my horn on the ceiling. Despite the low ceiling, it was surprisingly spacious. Spacious enough to turn around anyway. Good, I didn't want to be trapped with my horn pointed away from that thing if it found me.
An echoing thud ran down the tunnel, followed by another. The creature had entered the hallway. I quickly cast a silencing spell, much easier than teleportation, and silently trotted away as quickly as I could. Maybe It only messed with advanced spells. The glow from my spell lit the way as the echoing thuds grew closer. The low ceiling making it so I had to walk away rather than run like my body was screaming at me to. And then I came across the worst possible thing, other than the creature itself.
A closed door!
I flicked my eyes over the barrier, looking for any detail that might allow me to open it. There were several buttons to my right like every other alien door I'd seen. I had no idea which to push. They looked just like the buttons on all the other doors. right down to the same marking on them.
The thuds were growing louder and I was starting to hyperventilate in the enclosed space. These doors were so frustrating! I had no idea how to open them. They didn't swing on hinges or use a key or even magically disappear. I just tried to touch the light. Then they just... magically moved aside with the push of a button. I immediately pushed the button with the same symbols as before. Sure enough the door slid aside. And the thuds stopped.
I stood paralyzed as paniced thoughts ran through my head. Had it heard? Of course not! I was still using my silencing spell! But then how could it know I was here. Did it know? Was it just playing with me? Could it be
There was the squeak of hinges from above me. I could hear the creature making muffled noises as it shifted through something. All my attention, except for what kept the silencing spell in place, was focused on the sounds it made. I could make out grumbles that seemed to have the structure of language behind it.
"After living through all that, I just had to come out of cryo and vomit all over the place. I guess that's why the regs say not to go cold while wearing your helmet or on a full stomach. It would suck so much to barf inside your helmet, especially while wearing it." There was another squeak and a faint clatter as a metal door was presumably closed. Then the steps receded. "Oh and there is that lovely hull breach, again, for me to fix. Hello there! I wonder what else has been shot to hell around here? Cause you know it's going to be me who..."
The hiss of the door before me sliding closed again was what finally snapped me out of my paralysis. It didn't seemed to have noticed me at all. More importantly I had just come face to face with what was most likely an Extra Terrestrial being. If this creature could communicate... I could only imagine what I could learn from it. Space travel, advanced construction techniques, Astronomy! My silent prancing was halted when I banged the back of my head on the low ceiling. Re-casting the silencing spell, I sheepishly made my way back to begin my first field observations of an extra terrestrial in it's own environment. Mental checklist being drawn up as I went.
- Observe and record activities until general behavior is understood. 2. Summarize findings and present to the Diarchy. 3. Prepare for a proper first contact (check sublist for first contact preparations). 4. Initiate a positive first contact. 5. Learn everything! Oh this was going to be so much fun.
Climbing back out of the square hole into the main hallway had been a bit of a challenge but a flap of my wings had given me the extra push I needed to get over the lip. Now I was creeping towards the room where I had first discovered the creature. (Though alien is probably a more accurate description.) Light was being cast into the hallway now. There were also noises that indicated that the creature, I mean alien, was moving about. I could also make out what sounded like shifting sand.
My thirst for knowledge was being overridden by my self preservation as I moved closer and closer to the door. I had no idea if the alien would do me harm. While it didn't seem to have given chase, it could still be dangerous. Which is why I wasn't going to let it see me. But I had to learn what it knew. Maybe it would be okay if I was just really, really careful.
Very cautiously, I poked my head around the edge of the door and was thankful that the alien was mostly facing away from me. It was on all fours again. That wasn't quite accurate though. It was on three of it's four legs, using those tentacles to grasp a box of a sandy material that it was pouring onto whatever mess it had made. It placed the box down and I got a better look at what was on the end of it's forelimbs. They would be best compared to the hands of a minotaur or the paws of a monkey. There were four digits and a thumb which gave the 'hand' such a distinctive shape. I felt a little silly for thinking of them as tentacles before. To be fair I hadn't gotten a very good look before when it almost fell on me.
The alien picked up a boxy object with a mouth grip in it's hand and did something with it's thumb that caused the object to whir faintly. The object began to suck up all the sand along with the mess. My first observation of extra terrestrial technology at work and I didn't have a camera or even a notepad. I was at least commiting to memory every detail I could about the alien for later.
I would have compared it to an ape. If apes were covered in grey, armored scales. There was a blue stripe running from the right shoulder down as far as I could see. Front as well as back. The hind legs were completely different too. From the way it was jointed, the creature looked to be on it's knees with the rest of the leg protruding along the floor behind it, ending in an elongated hoof. My eyes tracked back up to it's head and was momentarily confused by its face. It wasn't the face of the monster that initially terrified me. It had more in common with a pony face than differences. There was a short brown mane, shell like ears, and a relatively flat face. The snout was nearly non-existant, still the only significant protrusion on it's face. There was a small mouth below the nose. It didn't seem to have much fur on its face, instead light tannish skin was visible. The eyes were small like the rest of its facial features but also bright.
My nose began to itch. Before I could stop myself, I sneezed. My silencing spell kept it quiet but my broken focus meant the spell was broken too. Some of that powdery substance it had sprinkled liberally onto the mess must have been kicked up by whatever device it was using to suck up the powder and mess.
And then I sneezed again.
The alien's head whipped around and the two of us just stared at each other for a long moment.
Oh Celestia, this was it. First contact! Technically second but I don't think the first one counted. Regardless, I wasn't ready for step four! My carefully laid plan was falling apart. I had planned to observe the alien for a few weeks at least before setting up such an important meeting. Learned how to introduce myself and the Princesses (preferably in it's own language), figured out what kind of food it preferred, AND had back up hidden out of sight in case it WAS dangerous.
Despite my fears it smiled, turned off the device, and very slowly set it down and gave me a little wave. Without any better idea at the moment, I forced a smile and waved back. It's smile grew bigger, which unnerved me for reason. It turned to face me fully before it said something in a rich voice, one might associate with a stallion but rarely a mare.
"Hello there."
Taking that as encouragement, I looked about the room again. Nothing had changed from before but for the overhead lights being on, the small pile of powder in the middle and what was apparently the helmet that had scared me earlier. It was just lying off to the side, rather harmless looking now.
I lit my horn again (just in case), took a deep breath and entered. I hoped for the best and began to recite the first encounter speech I hadn't had a chance to make note cards for yet, or even revise at all. I was practically winging it.
"Greetings. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria and the Element of Magic. I hope we can become friends and engage in peaceful relations. I am sure there is a great deal we can learn from each other and I would like to start right away."
The creature just nodded politely and held out it's left foreleg, palm up. Pleased with my success, I reached out to hoof bump the offered limb. A little informal but I'd take it. Something about its outstretched leg caught my attention and I paused. This limb didn't look like the other. While its body looked like it was covered in armor, possibly the literal kind since it had taken off its helmet, this limb didn't look like it was covered in metal, it looked like it was metal.
Picking up on my focus, the alien glanced down at it's metal hand. Slowly, the proffered limb was lowered and it's other one raised instead. Hand raised to eye level, palm facing me, he used his metal one to remove the armored shoe covering it to expose flesh the same color as its face. It held this appendage out to me instead. Again I reached out to bump it but before I could the hand reached out, closed around my hoof, and gave a firm pump up and down. It did this twice before letting go. A much more formal version of a hoofshake than the enthusiastic one Applejack had first given me.
Wow. My first diplomatic mission as a Princess. I had expected it to go as badly as with the Buffalo. As in minor skirmishes, before erupting into full on pie warfare. I'm still not entirely convinced Discord wasn't involved somehow, even if he had been a lawn ornament at the time.
My feeling of triumph was crushed when the alien reached out with it's unarmored hand and patted me on the head.
"Good girl."
I was speechless. Princess title or not, this being had just patted me on the head like a foal. I had been furious when Discord had first done it and I was furious now. The alien's attention was already elsewhere though so my glare went ignored. It sat on its haunches and began to speak to the ceiling. Then I remembered it probably couldn't understand me anymore than I could understand it and just let out a frustrated sigh.
"Sassi? Sassi, you there?"
When nothing happened it made low grumbling sounds.
"Powers probably too low. She must have fallen asleep. Hopefully that's all it is."
It then got to all fours again and finished cleaning up the floor. Once finished it picked up both the device and the box of powder in its hands and put one of its extended hooves on the floor beneath it and pushed up.
My eyes followed it as it went up, and up, till it finally toward over me. Standing on only it's rear legs.
"Excuse me."
It then just walked past me into the hallway.
Listening to it walk down the hall again, it became clear that before the alien had been walking bipedally as well. I quickly followed at a slight distance. Now that it towered over me, it seemed a lot more intimidating than before. And it had been plenty intimidating before I saw it was almost as tall as Princess Celestia. It was also holding its metal hand out before it. From which a beam of light pierced the dim surroundings. The lights may have illuminated our hooves but most everything else was cast in a dim red light.
I followed the alien back past the gap in the wall. Beyond the hole I had jumped into to hide and came to a stop about where I had encountered the doorway below. Here the creature stopped and hooked one of its fingers into a depression in the wall. It pulled outwards and a door swung open. Inside was a cavity into which it returned the cleaning supplies. I could see the seams for the door but the panel didn't look any different from any of the other panels I could see.
After shutting the door, the alien moved on to the end of the hall where there was a large double door, unlike all the others I had seen so far. Instead of touching any of the buttons beside the door, the highest and lowest of which were arrows pointing in their respective directions, the alien shown its light over the wall to the left. After a moment, it opened another panel to the left of the door to reveal a ladder. Using its long limbs, it easily began to lower itself down the shaft.
When it was on eye level with me, it stopped and held one of its arms out to me. It made several sweeping gestures which caused the lite it was emitting to flash across my face repeatedly. It looked like it was making a beckoning motion.
"Well, you coming or what?"
I took a few steps back. My magic was somewhat replenished now and this being didn't seem quite as scary as when it had nearly fallen on me. Still I was not about to let a strange creature I had nearly no behavioral knowledge of hold me, especially not inside such an enclosed space.
The alien shrugged and continued to climb up. After a moment there was a squeak from another panel opening. Following the alien with my eyes, I could see it had opened a door one floor above on the opposite wall. The shaft was too narrow for me to spread my wings fully, that that I fould have flown up there anyway. So I teleported across the gap. It was a little tricky as I couldn't actually see where I was going. But I managed, appearing about a dozen centimeters above the floor.
The alien hadn't made it far. At the sound of my teleportation and clatter of my hooves hitting the floor, it turned to shine the light directly into my face, forcing me to squint. It lowered the light to the floor and gave me what would be an inquisitive look. If it had been on a pony's face anyway. That the ears seemed to be stationary and the complete lack of tail made its body language stiff and difficult to read. Of course being an alien, it was entirely plausible, even probable that I wasn't reading its body language correctly at all.
"Now how did you get from there," it pointed in the direction it has last seen me, "to here?" It then pointed at where I was presently standing. The alien used its right hand which I was grateful for. That light was really bright when shone directly into my eyes.
It wasn't hard to read this. It was curious how I had traveled over the obstacle it didn't believe me capable of overcoming. Like with Applejack, I tried to explain the complex magical theory to it. There was no change of expression to indicate understanding. Just a smile as one of its hands reached for me again.
"My, you're a talkative one aren't you?"
The hand came down to pat me again but I was having none of it. With a flash, I teleported behind it and gave it my best glare.
There was a moment's hesitation in its movements as the alien tried to figure out what had happened to me. It looked from side to side. Up and down. Even waving it's hands around in the space I had just been to check if I was invisible. It lifted its left arm, the metal one, and started manipulating something that was now giving off multi-colored light from the top. It scratched it's mane and glanced behind it, only to encounter my glare.
Seeing that look of surprise cross its face and the way it jumped away from me with a startled exclamation that I didn't quite catch (I think it started with a 'Fu' sound), was immensely satisfying after it had nearly scared the living daylights out of me earlier. When it landed though its posture was completely different. The limbs weren't flailing. They were set and ready, in a slight crouch. The right hand was on its hip grasping something attached to the armor. The light was pointed directly at me, again. It was nearly impossible to tell through the glare but the metal arm seemed different. Like its shape had changed. I wasn't sure. What I was sure of though was that the face didn't have any of the emotions it had possessed previously. It was blank and even more emotionless as before, just like looking at the mask it had worn when it awoke just not nearly as literal.
There was a long pause. Nothing moved. Fear was worming into what had been my calm mind. A calm fractured by anxiety. My horn began to glow and wings started to unfurl. It was like facing down a predator. My body was getting ready to react as soon as it made a sudden move without making any myself. And then it blinked and slowly the ready stance relaxed. The mask fell away into that curious look I had seen before. The creature crouched down and began speaking to me again. Mercifully, redirecting the light towards the floor again.
"Well isn't that an interesting adaptation. Useful too! Predators would have to rely on surprise or extremely good tracking if their prey can simply warp away. I wonder what other life is on this planet. I might have to investigate when my ship is repaired. Too bad that gaping hole is where the science lab used to be. Oh and let's not forget that it seems like everyone else abandoned ship, including anyone who knew how to work the tech in there. Mustn't forget that." With that it began walking towards wherever its destination was. Leaving me mildly confused at this alien reaction to being surprised. Startling it was probably not a good idea.
We didn't have very far to go. We were already in a large room. It was too dark to make out much. The alien was keeping its light trained on one of two structures on either side of the room, in the back. I considered lighting my own horn to cast a light spell myself but I was more than a little afraid of making the alien freak out again. It was even worse than a dragon stare, mostly because I knew what a dragon would do.
We approached the structures and I got a better look at one. I had never seen anything like them before, they reminded me of some of that 'modern art' that Pinkie found so fascinating and that Rariy so despised. These looked like large teapots made up of panels, with large tubes connecting them to the walls.
The alien went to the left one and grasped a handle on top before giving it a twist with its metal hand. The handle turned, causing the section to pull away from the rest. There was a groan from the alien as a grey orb, about as large as a mature melon, slid into veiw. The light flashed over the orb, exposing a large crack running through it.
"Gah. I can't believe the crystal's gone. This ship won't escape orbit, let alone jump, without both. Hopefully the other survived.
On the other side of the room, the alien repeated the process. Twisting another handle and exposing another orb. This one was not broken however, which seemed to relieve the alien. Instead this one seemed to hold the faintest glow, just visible in the darkness.
With a laugh the alien began removing the armor covering its chest. With the piece removed, I could see it wore a fitted outfit underneath. Once that had been opened to expose the alien's chest, it paused. A look was cast my way. It seemed to be deliberating something while I took in every new detail.
I could see it did indeed have hair over its exposed skin. It was so sparse I would not think to call it a coat of any kind. Could it be sick? Or possibly a side effect of that cold room I found it in? There was also what appeared to be nipples upon its flat chest. Which would imply she was female.
The point where her metal arm met the rest of her body was also visible now. It wasn't just the arm but part of her chest that was also metal, just the area around the shoulder. I had never seen a limb like this before. The closest comparison I had seen were prosthetic limbs for ponies that were in accidents and had been badly hurt. But those had been carved wood. Even the best could only flex with the help of a unicorn's magic. Few unicorns even bothered since every moment had to be done with the owner's magic since there was no spell to allow the mind to control the limb directly. Earth ponies and pegasi didn't even have that option. And yet this creature's arm seemed to be able to do just that. Where did the energy to move the arm come from? Could it be derived directly from the owner's body?
The alien seemed to have come to a decision because she broke me from my revere by crouched down to my eye level and spoke sternly.
"Now listen. You can't tell anybody about this, understand. What you're about to see is super classified tech. Even more so than everything else you're likely to see on this prototype ship. Do you understand?"
She began to nod her head, her extended finger doing the same just in front of my nose. Her left hand was wearing that armored sock again. She must have put it back on before we went up the metal shaft.
Not knowing what she wanted because she seemed to want me to do something, I mimicked the action. Nodding my head along with hers.
Another laugh. "Of course you don't. Your just some indiginous lifeform that has been following me around since I came out of cryo. Now just sit there and look cute and purple while I try to jump start this engine."
She stood up again and did something to the metal around her shoulder, on the front of her chest. There was a hiss and light began to seep from under the edge of a panel. It opened to reveal a circular hole with bright, white light shining forth. A whir and more metal folded back, opening like the petals of a flower. The light was so bright that it lite up the room like a tiny sun, or star. The alien turned back to the orb. The metal petals constricted and a beam of light passed from the hole in her chest to the intact orb.
A moment later it was over, and I was left trying to rub the after images from my eyes. The light from the alien's chest had dimmed to just a faint pulsing. To the point that I could see another one of those orbs embedded in the metal. This one was much small than the other two. Maybe the size of an orange. Quickly, I scanned it with my magic. It felt almost like magic but it definitely wasn't magic. At least not like any magic I had ever encountered.
Before I could learn anything more about the small orb it was obscured. The petals folded in over it and the metal plate closed over the whole thing, sealing it shut with a hiss. I couldn't even feel the orb anymore.
I scanned the, now glowing, larger one. It wasn't much brighter. Just enough that I was sure it was glowing and not just my imagination. I felt that same feeling of magic that wasn't quite magic. Of course, the alien closed the orb's housing before I could determine anything else. I glared over at her. She just smiled down at me.
"Don't look at me like that. With any luck this will get her started."
Then she turned the handle.
There was a soft whir, then a louder one below us. Lights began to flicker on about the room. Between the two teapots, there was a table covered in buttons with a black mirror right above it that had white alien text being written on it without a pencil or quill. The overhead lights came on letting me see even more details of the room I was in.
I was trying to take it all in when there was a beep from right beside me. I jumped away as a little blue figure flashed into existence on a pedestal I had been standing beside but hadn't noticed until now. It smiled and waved at me. Then it spoke in a much higher pitched voice than the alien.
"Hi there, pretty purple pony. Thanks for your help earlier. I'm SASSI. What's your name?"
Author's Note
Hopefully there are less grammar mistakes than the first chapter. I put a lot more effort into proofing than I did previously. I also didn't write this chapter on a tablet so there is that too.
