Alien: Ponies of a Forgotten Past

“...I’ll be back before you know it, Lunar. You can count on Star Catcher!”

He had heard it a million times before, and he would gladly listen to it a million more. Star Catcher had never returned from her mission aboard the Phantom Orbiter, and Lunar Orbit had been waiting down in Equestria for some sign that she would return. The cake he had made commemorating her return had gone half rotten, and by the time Lunar Orbit was called to the space program, everypony had assumed the crew of the Phantom Orbiter dead.

Lunar Orbit had always relied on Star Catcher’s help in the big fields of study. They had both met in college, and Lunar wasn’t afraid to admit that he wasn’t the smartest one there. He could remember their first meeting as if it had been the week before.

It wasn’t any special kind of meeting, like the ones you heard about in old pony tales. Lunar Orbit and Star Catcher had met during a lunch break. Lunar Orbit was chowing down on a dandelion sandwich, and Star Catcher happened to be walking by during one of his art rants.

He was having artist’s block at the time, and was making a big fuss over which color went where…

“I have no doubt that I needed to add more blue to her mane, but how could I have done that if I was out of blue!? This is stupid! How can I fix a drawing I can’t even remember? Oh, I’m losing so many bits…”

Lunar Orbit suddenly felt a soft hoof rest on his shoulder. The small white petal left from his sandwich flew down from his mouth, landing in the grass below. Before he could make sense of the hoof on his shoulder, the most heavenly voice he had ever heard filled his ears, although the words weren’t so angelic.

“Could you please be quiet? You’re annoying the entire campus.” Lunar Orbit turned around, his eyes widening at her face. Her eyes shone as if the stars had flown down, their only mission being to rest in her gentle eyes. She had a slight smile radiating on the side of her face like that of the sun.

Lunar Orbit couldn’t keep his mouth closed. This mare was one of the most beautiful things he had ever laid his eyes upon. “I-I’m sorry! I guess I was being kind of silly, huh?” The bubbly mare giggled, trotting away to meet up with her group of pony friends.

It was kind of silly, now that he thought about it. They fell in love because Lunar Orbit had anger management issues. Not many ponies had the right to say that.

Once more, he pressed the button on the small screen, watching her face reappear once more. “Earth to Orbit, Earth to Orbit, come in, Lunar! Gosh, these things are so hard to work, and I’ve been sending you these things for a year now! I’m sorry I haven’t returned home yet, but something came up. We have to dock on this ship to bring in some passengers. Apparently their entire mainframe went down just before the solar eclipse last week. You don’t need to worry about me, though. I’ll be back before you know it, Lunar! You can count on Star Catcher!”

“Dammit, Star, why’d you have to go? I should never have pushed you to go on that cursed ship!” From behind, he heard the door of his room slide open, the joyful talk from his three shipmates shaking him from his reveries and prompting him to lie up in his bed.

“Yo Lunar, what’s going on?” Cloud Starlight was always the first one to speak of the three. He was considered the captain of the Nightfall and was the main decision-maker for the team. His quick wits and creativity towards problems seemed superior to anypony else. Lunar only believed he got to be captain because everypony was fond of his light brown mane, straightened to perfection.

“You’re not watching that depressing message again, are you? You have to stop this, Lunar, or you’ll kill yourself inside.” Sugar Song always seemed to be the one trying to cheer Lunar up, but Lunar hardly paid attention. He feared that giving even the slightest bit of conversation would result in them drawing compassion for each other, if Sugar Song hadn’t already found herself attracted to Lunar Orbit. Her light blue self only made Lunar think of himself.

In appearance they looked almost similar, but the light blue fur of Sugar Song reminded Lunar of his inner soul, his emotions, and more importantly, his heart. “I’m fine, Sugar Song. Don’t worry about me.” Sugar sat down to cross her hooves, giving him a disapproving stare.

“This isn’t a game, Lunar. Someday your sadness will come back to bite you in the plot, and I’m going to be the one laughing at you.” Lunar Orbit knew this to be a lie, as Sugar was too sweet to commit anything more serious than that.

“She’s right, you know. The scientific probability of you dying from a broken heart is coming close to a ninety percent. If this continues, I have no doubt that death is imminent.” And then there was Moon Hunter, probably the most logical of them all. Over the course of the year aboard the Nightfall, Lunar had become good friends with Moon, and the two were rarely seen apart. The only time you ever saw them separated would probably be when Lunar Orbit needed to cool off and listen to Star Catcher’s voice again.

“Moon, I understand that, but what else can I do? After all those years together, I can’t just give her up like that.” It was true, Lunar couldn’t just forget the mare he had loved for so long. She had fixed him, and he swore to protect her no matter the price. Now she was gone, and Lunar had felt like he had broken his promise to her.

As always, Cloud strode up to Lunar, taking him by the shoulder. “Come on, now! There’s something you should probably see. We’ve been working on it for months now, and I think you’ll really like it. Afterwards, I’ll give you our next mission briefing, alright?” Lunar Orbit sighed, nodding his head and giving the team a half-smile.

Standing up, he looked over to Sugar Song, who went over to the closet, pressing her hoof to the scanner and giggling as the door clicked open. She pulled out the metal suit, dragging it over to Lunar Orbit.

“I never understood why we had to wear these things at all times…” He chuckled to himself as he slipped into the cold armor, the helmet immediately latching onto his fur. He didn’t ever bother putting the visor down. It wasn’t as if he had to leave the ship on a regular basis.

Lunar Orbit was the engineer of the ship, and preferred to stay indoors to handle technical problems. He hated the idea of travelling out into the unknown. The only reason he accepted the odd invitation from the space program to go on the same mission as Star was to find her.

He always thought his voice sounded robotic inside the suit, even when his visor was up. “Guys...do you think we’ll ever find it…?” He hated bringing the topic up at all times of day. Or night, depending on a pony’s point of view. He felt he posed a bother to his friends every time he said the words Phantom Orbiter.

Sugar Song replied in a dull whisper. “Lunar, we will never find the Phantom Orbiter. Just be lucky you’re a pony in space. That’s a one in a million chance, and you take it for granted.”

“I do not take it for granted. Maybe I just thought we’d be doing more than floating around day and night. I want some excitement.” He hated to tell Sugar off, but he wasn’t going to sugarcoat the truth for her.

“You think you’re the only one that wishes that, Lunar? If I could travel out into space and encounter a mystery, I would immediately take up the offer. Now check your guns and get your plot out there before Cloud gets impatient. You know how he can be.” Lunar did know. Many times he had gotten called out for laziness aboard the ship, but who could blame Lunar? There were never any technical problems to fix on the Nightfall.

As Sugar Song walked away, Lunar frowned, his eyes going back into their depressing glance. Every other pony had to make him feel like his attempts at these things were worthless.

Lowering the visor on the suit, he tapped the hoof to his right, watching the pistol spring out. He felt the string dangle in front of his mouth. Grabbing it in his teeth, he pulled down, hearing the gun cock and fire, though no bullets came out. He would need to remember to fill it later, when he had the time. If he had the time. He tapped the hoof sharply again, hearing the pistol bounce back into place.

Tapping his left hoof, he almost fell backwards at the force of the rifle. It seemed much heavier when he was wearing the suit rather than looking at it.

Bringing his nuzzle back once more, he heard the gun cock and fire, yet again failing to produce any bullets. He never believed in filling a gun when unecessary. He could easily hurt another pony doing that.

Just as he straightened his guns once more, the door slid open, the soft whirring music to Lunar’s ears.

“Come on, you rusty engineer, we got a job to do, and nothing will get done with you slacking off!” Cloud’s voice shattered the happy sounds that filled Lunar’s mind. Grumbling, Lunar stomped out the door, keeping his eyes glued to the ground.

He could hear the cheers and stomps from his friends even before he looked up and saw a large banner, gleefully proclaiming a “Happy Birthday, Lunar!”

That’s right! It was his birthday. Trapped aboard the Nightfall, Lunar didn’t bother to keep track of days, but he knew he could count on Moon to keep the calendar in check.

Moon Hunter bounced up, grabbing Lunar and flinging him towards the hologram table, now complete with a dehydrated cake and a bottle of cider.

The main tradition for them wasn’t placing candles on the cake, but making the cake fluff out. They took any safety precautions possible, making sure to keep open flames to a minimum. As a result, their wish could be granted by pouring water on the cake and making it ready to eat.

“I can’t believe it...you guys went to all of this trouble to make me happy?” He looked around, the deadly stares penetrating his soul. It didn’t last long, though, as all brightened up almost immediately.

Cloud leaned over the table, getting close to the visor on Lunar, still down from gun preparations. “Of course not! We celebrate all of our birthdays around here, right? We obviously want you to have a nice birthday, but it’s not solely for your amusement. Now come on, let’s get this party started!”

The other two pushed a small cup of water to Lunar, their eyes edging him on. He sighed, turning his head down and letting thoughts of Star float through his mind and up to his horn, glowing with the magic that he called love. He fluttered his eyes open, watching the cup float through the air.
Sugar giggled, Cloud rolling his eyes as Lunar had fun with the cup, letting it dance through the air at his expense.

When he had finally had his fill of fun, he gently swayed the glass over the small, open pack of what space ponies called “cake.” He allowed the water to slowly drop onto the dry rectangle, slowly moving back as it expanded into a large, yellow rectangle.

“Happy Birthday!!!” The shouts from the entire crew rattled in his ears, his smile widening with each passing second. They may not be the most selfless ponies, but after being stuck with them on the ship for a year, he couldn’t imagine life without them.

“You guys shouldn’t have...I feel obligated to repay the favor…” Lunar hated accepting gifts. Any time somepony offered him something, he felt the need to give something greater for their kindness.

Sugar gave him a punch to the side, regretting her decision as soon as she hit the metal. “You...really should just accept this, Lunar. We may be off this ship sooner than you think...ow…” For a moment, Lunar had no idea what she was talking about.

And then Cloud grabbed him again.

“You haven’t heard? We’re being decommissioned. They can’t afford to keep us up here any longer, Lunar. Effective next week, we’re going down in this ship. I’m sorry Lunar…”

Lunar knew that Cloud was trying to bring up Star in a subtle way, but he also knew that his chances were forever ruined. He would never know what happened to her.

“I’ll be fine, Cloud, really...we can still be friends when we get off this ship, right? Nothing says we can’t.” The others nodded in agreement, Moon moving over and pushing Cloud out of the way.

“You’re forgetting the most important part of a birthday! We’ve been keeping it a secret for months now, but it’s about time you saw, don’t you say?” Lunar didn’t know how to respond. If they had a gift for him, he couldn’t turn it down, but he had to do something!

Patting his hoof on the ground back and forth, he gave a sheepish grin.

His eyes followed the three, moving left towards the door to what they called the “living room.” It wasn’t filled with furniture or anything, but when the four gathered in there, it felt much more welcoming than the rest of the ship. Waiting for the door to open, Lunar grinned beneath his visor, running as soon as he heard the two large pieces of metal clang apart.

Trotting into the room, he didn’t know what to expect, but, charging in, he was stopped by the second most wonderful thing he had ever seen.

In the center of the large room stood a large portrait with a familiar face staring down at Lunar.

“We only ever saw her in that holographic message of yours, but from what we’ve seen, we thought this would give you some closure.” Moon Hunter never failed to hit Lunar where it counted the most.

Lunar had no words to express his gratitude for his friends. He didn’t even know if he could call it gratitude.

They had gotten almost every detail right. Her golden mane shone off of the lights and her eyes were calm, warming Lunar’s heart. Her shining white coat dazzled his eyes, and before he knew it, he was tearing up.

He didn’t know how to react, how to respond to this masterpiece. All he could do was run out of the room, the small splotches of water tracing behind him all the way out.

Lunar didn’t care where he went, as long as it gave him privacy. He turned corners and stood in front of doors waiting for them to open until his efforts led him to a small, quiet broom closet.

Darting in, he sat down, looking around for a towel to wipe his eyes with. Spotting a white blob in the back corner, he crawled and rubbed his eyes against it, feeling the soft material soothing him back to tranquility.

He sat there, thinking about his friends for a short time. Sugar Song was always trying to cheer him up, and Moon Hunter got away with being smart, leaving Lunar with nothing to do on the ship except think about life. Cloud may be bossy around Lunar, but it had to be because he cared about Lunar’s health.

He didn’t get much thought in before he was roused by the blaring of alarms. It was strange that you could hear everything in one of these ships, no matter how secluded you were. Lunar shot up, the weight of the armor almost pulling him back down as he heaved his way through the door, which refused to open until it got proper identification on him.

“What’s going on!? Is there a technical error I can fix?” His words flowed out of his mouth like a calm breeze, though he knew that his thoughts were focused on Star Catcher only.

“Lunar, a ship’s coming in at high speeds towards us, and there’s an imminent collision between us and them! Get your armor ready to go out, because there’s a chance it could breach the defenses of the Nightfall!” For once, Cloud Starlight was beginning to sound serious. Without a second thought, Lunar dashed off, the armor on his back becoming a feather as he charged through the thankfully reluctant doors of the airlock. He watched the others charge in after him, their faces spread with panic.

Sugar Song looked more worried than the rest of the team. “If we don’t make it back, just remember that this has been the most fun I’ve ever had!”

Cloud pulled down his visor, monitoring the activity of the computers from his helmet. “Impact with the intruder in twenty seconds!”

Lunar wasn’t thinking clearly. He was just as panicked as the rest of the ponies. Going to a corner, he grabbed the lever that helped to encase the spacesuits, specially designed to fit over the Space Tech Armor.

A large pocket of air released into his face as the doors slid open.

“14 seconds to impact! Everypony, hurry up!”

Lunar was being rushed, and it made him fidgety. He grabbed the suit, putting on the helmet before anything else. Even if he didn’t get the hoof platings, he would at least be able to breathe outside of the ship.

Snapping on the back hoof platings, he heard Cloud’s voice shout, almost at a scream at that point. “Get ready you guys! I’ll see you on the other side!!!”

Sometimes, Lunar wondered why everything meant death to Cloud and Sugar. Every situation had an escape. Then he took a second thought towards Cloud’s words. If he died, then that would mean…

Boom!

It seemed there would be no time to think about the consequences. He heard the right side of the ship explode just as he finished securing the breast plates on. He felt the spacesuit attach each part into one until it became part of Lunar’s armor.

He watched the airlock doors open, space quickly invading the small space. He felt a strong suction on his body as he was quickly pulled off into the emptiness they called space.