Solar nightmareby Eggs-free CageChapterschapter 2chapter 3chapter 4chapter 5chapter 6chapter 7chapter 8chapter 1chapter 2January 1 ,2030, 9:00. Location: Unknown. All there was, was pain of every variant. I woke up feeling the aftermath of the earths ascension and all the implications behind it. All of it was gone, my home, my family, my life and the God damn TV. I suppose to prevent further mental derogation, I should think positively about my situation, or stop thinking about it all together. Well I still have Zander and Sasha…… Never mind. Ok, not thinking about it anymore. Alright, time to take in my surroundings. I was still in the ship which could be good or bad depending on who was looking at it. Zander and Sasha had apparently passed out with me at some point. Sasha was leaning against the wall in a seated position, eyes closed. Zander was next to her still in fetal position. Everything seems to be in order here so I decided to check the window. What I saw was the last thing I would ever expect. A dark and pretty dank forest. Although some of the rare pepes I’ve seen were slightly more dank. Anyway, back to the forest, there were vines, trees, and such everywhere. What the hell did that light come for or where for that matter? I decided to put my questioning on hold and explore a bit. After checking the pulse’s of my team to make sure they were still alive, afterwards putting them in they’re shared bed. I stepped into the kitchen after making sure they were good. The way the Atlas was set up, it was a cylinder with the rooms going un a line. The control room was in the front, behind that was the lounge/living quarters and bath rooms, next was the kitchen lastly the air lock. I was on my way through the kitchen when I realized something. I was starving. I looked at the clock and saw it was 9:08. I grabbed a powdery breakfast and rehydrated it and was rewarded by a whole breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and most importantly, bacon. Once I was done, I set two more plates, packets and glasses of water out, afterwards, I went to the air lock and looked at my space contact suit (SCS for short) and sighed. I put it on, thinking the oxygen percentage may be too low for humans to survive. Once that was done, I made my way to the air lock and went through the tedious task of locking the main chambers off from the air lock and opened the door to the outside. The outside just looked like a normal forest from earth. That thought triggered a multitude of negative thoughts that I immediately pushed out of my mind. As I stepped further out I got some notifications through my visor that said the oxygen level was slightly higher than back home, about 27% with nitrogen and other such gasses taking the rest. So it was safe to breath. I’m still going to keep the suit on, it was designed to keep the wearer alive through almost anything. How do I know this? Well I designed it because I am one paranoid mother fucker. As I looked around I saw something I hadn’t seen before. A small tribal looking hut. Well that was less expected than the forest. But what was the metaphorical carrot on the proverbial cupcake was a miniature zebra walked out of the hut. Yeah if I didn’t have the SCS on I would have blamed it on something in the air. But nope, there was a zebra le miniature on my newly established neighbor’s front lawn, that was staring into my soul with huge emerald green eyes. Seriously there could not have been any room for brain matter in there because the eyes alone looked like they took up half the face at least. But what happen next probably made my life expectance come ever so closer to my current age of 27. “A strange creature coming out a strange craft, if this had not been happening to me, I would have laughed.” It talked. Yeah, I think I pasted out then and there. Zecora’s POV “A strange sight indeed, or perhaps a creature in need?” I said to myself as I walked to the passed out…… thing. I couldn’t tell what it was, but I could tell that it meant no harm to me. I brought it back to my hut and set it up a space to rest. Once that was done I tried to find a way to take off the unusual looking suit. I found the release on the back and opened it to reveal a creature just big enough to fill the suit snugly. I also found the suit had two parts to it; The suit itself and the headgear. As I removed the headgear an unexpected sight met my eyes. The ‘face’ was flat, safe a short mound I could only assume was its….. no his nose. He had a small mouth with equally small ears and eyes. The eyes themselves were a dark green that… wait, that’s not right. Sam’s POV Welllllll shit. The zebra lookin mother fucker was staring into my eyes. It wasn’t the worst way to go but who wants to make it to the pearly gates just to tell Saint Peter that you got completely devoured by a mini zebra. Anyway it was staring at me. I decided to speak to get things moving. “So, you gonna get it over with and eat me already?”. I can be snarky when someone has the upper hand/hoof on me. It reeled back as if my face had just sprouted flaming tentacles. “Oh, no no no! I wish not to taste flesh this day, or in my next life I surely shall pay!”. Oh, so she was an herbivore. I guess the teeth should have given it away. Then she spoke again. “Do you have a name strange being, or would that be too revealing?” Ok what is up with the rhyming. “I suppose it was rude of me to not introduce myself,” I said standing up and giving a salute. “I am captain Samuel Paris, leader of the Atlas and its crew. Now who are you, what are you, where are we, and where is my suit?”. I asked/ stated to the strange being. “And as a side note please stop rhyming, it can’t be easy and its making me a bit uncomfortable”. I was trying not be mean with that last part. I’m not sure how it came out but she didn’t seem dismayed in the least replying with: “It is not difficult in the least, but if you don’t like it I will leave it to a minimum.” I nodded replying with a thank you. From that point we just talked about ourselves, Zecora, she told me her name was, kept her promise and rhymed rarely and only out of habit, I learned I was in no area even near earth, in reality I think we’re in another galaxy altogether. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 13:00. “Zecora, I think I need to go check on my crew, they should be up by now.” “Yes, that is probably wise, but can I come with you, I would like to meet your ‘team’.” she said getting up from her sitting position. I thought about it and said “I don’t know if it would be a good idea right now, I mean they probably just woke up after just watching there home planet ascend to a star that not only burned every thing they ever loved but everyone too.” I said looking away tears in my eyes at the memory. ”It’s nothing against you it’s just they’re probably not in the best state of mind right now.” I continued seeing her sad expression. She looked at me and said “Maybe I can help, I have been known to remedy not only the body, but the heart and mind as well.” I thought about and decided she was right, so I nodded and motioned for her to follow me. She smiled and nodded as well. I grabbed my suit, which was conveniently placed by my ‘bed’ then headed out the door. The ship was just I had left it. We got outside the airlock and I put in the code and key and it slid open. Since the advanced technology ‘sensed’ there was sufficient air quality both doors opened as I opened the front one. The only thought in my mind was oh God I hope this works. chapter 3January 1, 2030, 13:03. Location: The Everfree Forest Sam’s POV The first thing I see when the door opens completely is Sasha looking at me with one of the stalest expressions I’d ever seen. “Who’s your new friend Sam?” she said as if this were a normal occurrence. “You don’t seem very surprised.” I stated with some bafflement. “Why should I be? I just watched everything I’ve ever known go up in flames. Besides, its not like it can talk or anything.” She stated bitterly. “Yes, I have heard of your endeavors and feel great sorrow from all of you. Therefore, I am here to help.” Zecora said making the fact she could speak known. Sasha looked at me with a calm visage. “Sam?” “Yes?” “Did that little zebra just speak, in perfect English no less?” “Yes, yes SHE did. Maybe you two should introduce yourselves.” Zecora spoke up first with “Hello miss, my name is Zecora and, as you can see I am a zebra.” She held her hoof out for a shake. Hesitantly, Sasha took it and they shook appendages. “I'm Sasha Wright, I’m sorry for being rude earlier.” Sasha said a bit ashamedly. “All is forgiven, you have had a rough day and night, have you not?” Zecora asked. Sasha nodded and I spoke up a bit. “Um, not to interrupt ‘get to know your new neighbor but Sasha, where is Zander.” Sasha looked a bit sad at the question but answered saying “He… well, he’s in the lounge. He ain’t taking… ya know, real well.” I thought on that for a minute and asked “How are you holding up?” I saw a tear in her eye before she looked away. “Go…go check on Zander.” She got out. I nodded and motioned for Zecora to follow. Sasha always tried to be tough for some reason. I guess that’s why Zander liked her. Walking into the room I saw him laying on the bed. “Zander, you ok buddy?” At this point I knew how to handle him when he was like this. I meet him in grade school and we’ve been inseparable since. “What do you think?” he retorted with as much venom as I had heard from him. I walked over as quietly, as was normal for me, and sat down at the end of the bed. Then I motioned for Zecora to go to the kitchen and talk to Sasha. She nodded and walked out. I leaned over and put my hand on Zander’s shoulder. “Zander you have to be strong, for Sasha, for me, and for everyone we left behind. But most importantly, you have to be strong for yourself.” I said trying to at least get him out of this state. “Please, get Sasha.” He pleaded. I nodded and ran off to get her. “Hey Sasha, he wants to see you.” I said hopping that she could do something. She nodded saying bye to Zecora. She walked out of the kitchen shutting the door behind her. I sat down at the table. It was small but could fit about 4 people at it. Zecora sat at the closest place near me. Honestly this was all so surreal. I go into space to find a problem, only to see said ‘problem’ devour my whole planet along with everything I knew. Then we’re transported to, from what Zecora has told me, the magical land of ponies and the plethora of Greek creatures of myth, and I immediately trust the first one I meet and…. Wait, why am I warm. I look down and see the zebra in my lap, hugging my torso. I also noticed I was crying. So I did the logical thing. I hugged back and balled my eyes out. When I was I looked back Zecora. “Thanks, I think I needed that.” She nodded smiling a little smile. After the exchange she hopped off. Then I heard a noise outside. I waited a minute and was rewarded by a knock at the door. “Who could that be, nopony lives in the forest but me.” Zecora said, slipping back into rhymes in here confusion. I gave her an irritable glare and went to open the door. With the sight that greeted me I said the first thing I could think. “You are one big fucking pony” chapter 4January 1, 2030. 13:30 Location: The Atlas Third person POV "You are one big fucking pony" Sam blandly stated. "Well that's quite interesting." said the mysterious mare. "What do you mean?" Sam asked curiously. "You can speak Equish!" exclaimed the bleach colored pony. "You know I could say the exact same thing to you." Sam deadpanned. "What do you mean?". "Well.... You ARE a talking horse." To get off this awkward topic, the curious mare changed the subject as quickly as she could. "Sooooo, I sensed in a relatively near galaxy that a widely inhabited planet's core was expanding, and also noticed a small craft leaving the surface, twelve hours before ascension, when I tried to look in, and then it disappeared, and what do you know, that very ship landed here. How did you do it?" "I haven't the faintest of clue. The only thing that I remember is that I saw the brightest light I have ever seen, then we ended here." Sam motioned the mare inside. " I didn't catch your name?" inquired Sam. " My name is Princess Celestia.". "Princess? I didn't know I was speaking to royalty!" Sam sputtered like a bitch with a bit of sarcasm. ". "Its fine you didn't know, now if I might ask your name?" "Sam, ma'am". He said, taking a bow "Wow how well mannered all of a sudden. Well Sam, what are you?". " I'm a human, there are two others, my crew, but they're not exactly available at the moment." She nodded her approval and they, along with Zecora, walked over to the kitchen table to discus various topics. chapter 5January 1, 2030, 13:35. Location “The Atlas” Sam’s POV As we all piled into the kitchen, some thoughts raced through my head like I had just called the princess of this nation a “Big fucking pony” or maybe the fact that I was in the same room as a pega-corn princess in the first place. Regardless, we were walking over to the kitchen when the two previously forgotten humans came into the room. “Ahh, this must be the rest of your crew, yes?” Celestia asked, a bit surprised at their sudden appearance “Yes princess this is my crew. The tall one is Zander and the slightly shorter one is Sasha. Sasha, Zander meet princess Celestia of Equestria.” I said. Sasha bowed but Zander just stood there like a jackass, just taking in the talking horses. I really hadn’t noticed at this point but I was the shortest one there. Well at least by normal pony standards I’m relatively tall. The princess is about a head taller than me and Zecora comes to about my chest so I didn’t let it bother me. “ Wow Sam, you’ve already made more friends here than back on earth.” Sasha quipped causing a swift glare of annoyance from me. “Well why don’t we get the serious things out of the way first so we can move on to happier topics.” Celestia said getting everyone’s attentions and lead us over to the table. “I’ll go get the chair from the lounge and some drinks, what would everyone like?” I asked getting a mixed response of coffee and tea. 2 coffees and 2 teas for those picky bastards out there. I myself preferred tea so once I got the extra chair and brewed the refreshments we all sat down at the table, Sasha, Zecora, Zander and I in the dinning room chairs while Celestia took the recliner, being bigger than everyone there, with the exception of Zander. “So” Celestia started “I believe that we should start with your planet, if it’s not too much trouble of course.” “Well what about it?” I asked a bit harshly. “I just want to know if you know anything about what happened to it.” Celestia said. “I’m sorry princess, but at the moment I only have speculation on what could have happened if you would like to hear that?” I asked. She nodded so I continued. “I believe that somehow, within the mantle of the Earths core, nuclear fusion began, oh lets say 500 years ago. Between that time the earth was expanding and getting hotter. We blamed the rise in heat on our own stupidity and use of greenhouse gasses. But we could not have been more wrong. Just two days ago the heat had become unbearable in places so we were sent to space to see if the heat spikes were coming from there, but one in our trek, we watched as the mantle consumed everything we loved” I along with my crew were openly crying at this point. Even Zecora and Celestia had a few tear coming down their cheeks. “That is quite the story Samuel, and you did answer a couple more of my questions, but now I need to gauge if you or your team are a threat.” Celestia said getting a cold glare on her face. “Princess I can assure you-“ Zecora tried to say before being cut off by the white mare. “I wish to see for myself. Now Samuel, I have more questions for you and your team to answer. First I would like to know if you have anything on this craft that could be used as a weapon and if so would any of you wish to use them against me or my little ponies?” Celetsia asked with the scariest look I have ever seen on a horse. We all did have our own weapons because we were all allowed one personal item as long as it could fit through the door. I responded with “Yes, we all have one weapon we were allowed to take with us and no we would never want to harm anyone unless they tried to harm us first.” “Please, retrieve them.” She said and without a second thought we got up and got our ‘things’. Zander had brought the biggest fucking meatal stick I have ever seen. It was taller than him if that means anything. It had a spiral design on it and looked heavier than the owner, but only weighed 7 pounds somehow. Sasha had brought a pair of brass knuckles. They had love and hate written across the knuckles. I had cheated a bit. The only thing the records that are now a fine ash showed I brought was a great sword that was an inch shorter than me, but being the sneaky little snake I am, I snuck two assassin daggers in my boots. The great sword was comparable to a big scimitar with a longer hilt and an extra handle half way up. The daggers were a different story. They were small, about 10 inches in length each. The only difference is one had a straight double-edged blade while the other had a single serrated edge. Celestia looked in shock at the items placed on the table. She picked up Zanders bo staff with her magic and examined it. Zander looked at it in a similar state of shock. “What are you doing?” Zander shouted which was the first time he had spoken. Its funny because I was usually the quiet one “Oh right you must not know about magic. I won’t get to far into detail but just know that unicorns and alicorns can use magic for a multitude of tasks while earth ponies and pegasi use it passively to fly and control weather, and to grow crops and abnormal strength respectively.” Zander looked around I disbelief before raising his hands in a sign of defeat grabbing his staff from the table, he walked back to the ‘man cave’ before shutting the door. “Zander, get back here.” I hissed trying to get his attenition. “This is too weird for me, I’ll come out later.” He said from the other side. I silently cursed to myself before looking back to the princess. “Yeah sorry about him, he doesn’t like things he can’t understand.” I apologized she nodded and I sat back down. “Now, I would like to get on a less grim topic, such as what you did for work before your arrival.” Celestia mentioned and Sasha instantly perked. “I was an astro, civic and bio engineer, having PhDs in each field.” Sasha said proudly. Celestia looked impressed. She then looked to me. I took that as my queue. “I was an astro-engineer and theoretical physicist and Zander was the solar navigator of our happy little crew.” I said The rest of us waited for Celestia to say something then she spoke. “I have one final question; what will you do now.” The question surprised me a little, but not as much as the answer I gave. “I don’t know.” Three words, fairly simple but carried with them realization. I don’t have a clue what to do next. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Then I thought a little on the matter. “I think for now we will just try to survive, maybe sate some curiosity by studying the surrounding phenomenon and magic if we can.” Celestia looked happy with that answer. Then suddenly a scroll popped out of thin air and landed on the table. She picked it up studying it for about seven seconds before she stood. “I’m sorry everypony, but I am need elsewhere is there anything you need to know before I go?” she said sounding rushed. We shook our heads and she went towards the air-lock. “It was nice to meet you Princess.” I said. She looked back and smirked slightly. “Please, refer to me as if I were your friend.” She said shocking me a bit, but I nodded and then she was out the door. I just stood there for a minute. “Well, Sasha, let’s go check and see if we need to move the ship we can.” I said. She nodded and we headed to the front, Zecora following, picking up Zander on the way. January 1, 2030, 19:13. Location: The Atlas Sam’s POV We had checked all the systems and they seemed to be running properly. Then fuel was at around fifty percent, but that was fine. We had extra and the Atlas was outfitted with three types of engines, one of which is a biomass engine. Why? Because I designed it and I am one paranoid mother fucker, as I have said before. I looked at the clock. Wow, had we talked for that long or had we been checking the systems for longer than I thought. Zecora had asked us questions and she sat near me. Well I think the questions were directed to me but the others answered most of them. It was getting a bit late so I asked Zecora to stay for dinner. She nodded and we headed off to the kitchen once again. Remembering how upset she got when I mentioned her eating me, I retrieved the dried and dehydrated packets of fruits and vegetables. “Say, Zecora what do you want to drink?” I asked as I put the plate of powder in front of her and poring some water on it. She gave me a strange look until she saw it change. I love this new age food. “Water will be fine.” She responded to my earlier question. So we ate and chatted a bit about various things. After we all finished eating we bid Zecora a farewell. It was about 20:00 at this point so we all decided to go on to sleep. As I slipped into my bed, I thought of everything that lead me to this point. My last thought before drifting off was of my family and my friends I left behind. Then sleep took me. chapter 6January ?, 2030, ??:??. Location:? Darkness. All around. I was seeing myself from a third person position. The darkness was in me. The darkness was me. Doors, doors with years carved in them. 2003, 2004, 2005 and so on. I opened one with a 2007 on it and saw my fourth birthday, along with my first meeting with Zander. What the hell? I continued until I got to a door with a substance leaking from it. 2020. No. no, no, no, that was over that happened over a decade ago. I saw myself reaching for the door knob. No don’t do it. I kept going. Don’t you do it! I tried to will the hand to move away. My hand finally reached the door and it swung open. My ‘consciousness’ was sucked into the room. Inside I was looking from my own prospective. I was walking down the hall of my old house. I heard small, almost inaudible noises coming from the room at the end of the hall. My mother’s room. I begged and pleaded with myself to not go but it didn’t do much. I had made it to the end of the hall. The noises had picked up. I was slowly reaching up to the door when I heard a scream from inside. I had lift my hand to the knob just before feeling a swimming sensation and then darkness. January 2, 2030, 05:30. Location: The Atlas I awoke with a start. A cold perspiration covering my skin. Zander was above me, hands on my shoulders. “Dream again?” he asked a look of concern on his face. I nodded and made to get up. He moved over so I could do so and I moved toward the bathroom. Sasha was still snoring loudly so I knew she wasn’t in there at the moment. As I walked in, I looked around. It wasn’t anything too luxurious, just a bath/shower, a sink, and a toilet that reused our waste for plumbing and the biomass engine. Fun. I locked the door, then walked to the shower. “I really need to get a piping system if this is where we plan to stay for the rest of our lives.” I said to myself as I turned on the shower and striped there was no heating system for budget reasons but that was fine. I hopped in got myself clean and hopped out. While I was in there I thought of a multitude of things, like how did we spontaneously get transported to a world an unmeasurable distance from where we began. After the shower I looked in the mirror, I had seen that face every time I did so. My skin was a milky white, with a few blemishes here and there. I had the features of any other white male of my age did. My hair was a dark brown, almost black. There was a slight stubble growing up my face, the same color as my hair. But there were always two features that caught my attention more than anything else. My eyes, a dark forest green, and the scar that ran down between them, curving slightly to the left, just missing my eye. I blinked once or twice trying to clear my head. I reach for the razor that we kept on board for facial hair purposes. I cleared the stubble but kept the mustache and chin spike. Why? I don’t know. I just always did. I got dressed in the lounging clothes that I had brought in with me and walked out. The first thing I noticed when I walked out was the smell of freshly heated rehydrated bacon that was not fresh in any way. I walked into the kitchen, seeing and greeting Zander and Sasha. The former was preparing the food while Sasha sat at the table, polishing her brass knuckles. I always tried telling Zander that sasha was the one that wore the pants in their relationship….. that was until I saw him almost kill three armed robbers with his bare hands. Ahh good times. Anyways, I walked over to the ‘kitchen’ area of the kitchen and helped Zander with the beverages. After breakfast was consumed I asked the all-important question. “Well, what now?” “I think that we need to just stay here. There isn’t any need to go off and die in a god forsaken forest now should we?” Zander said sagely, sipping at his coffee. “I agree with Zander, Zecora and Celestia both said this forest is dangerous, and I don’t feel like testing that for myself.” Sasha said. “Well I think that I’m going to go to Zecora’s, see if she needs help or see what she can tell me about living around in this neck of the woods.” I said as I walked toward the door. We had shut down the air lock for the time being for obvious reasons. They groaned at my pun. “And remember, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” I teased walking out of the door. “As long as you take your own advice.” I heard Sasha yell back. I acted like I didn’t hear her. January 2, 2030, 07:10. Location: Zecora’s hut. Sam’s POV As I walked to the strange little hut I saw Zecora outside of it doing….. something. I walked up to her. For some reason she was balancing on her head on what looked like a wood version of Zanders bo staff. “And hear I thought ponies couldn’t get any weirder.” I said. Her eyes flew open wide like she hadn’t noticed I was there. “Good morning Sam, how did you sleep?” she asked tilting her head, somehow without falling off. “Fine,” I lied “how about you?” I asked “I slept as well as one can in the forest” she answered finishing whatever she was doing on that stick and hopping off. “though” she continued “by the color under your eyes I would say the same is true for you.” I was more than a little shocked but she smiled up at me. “You don’t have to tell me, just know that you can if need be.” I nodded and decided to change the subject. “So, what were you doing on that stick?” I asked bluntly. “I was meditating.” She said. “I’m trying to start a conversation but you’re not helping.” I said, with an annoyed directed towards her. She just laughed. “Well why don’t start with why you came for a visit?” She asked. Why had I come out here? “Right, um, I completely forgot why.” I said, averting my eyes from her. “That’s fine, I’ll just get some tea, and we can talk or do whatever neighbors do.” She said heading for her hut. “Sure, I’d love to talk with you more.” I said following her into her hut. January 2, 2030, 07:20. Location: Zecora’s hut. As we walked into the hut, there were some features that I had looked over when I had been in it and seen it from the outside. The most notable of which was the fact it looked like it was carved out of a big ass tree. Other than that, it looked like any other tribal hut I had ever seen. There was a large cooking caldron in the middle with shelfs carved into the walls that housed various types of bottles and containers. “What type of tea do you prefer?” Zecora asked looking back at me. I had to think for a moment to find the right word. “Do you have black equish?” I asked. She, to my surprise nodded and went to get the ingredients to make it. I was still sitting there, thinking how this tea could be different from what I’m used to when a familiar smell hit my nostrils. It was coming from the caldron in the middle of the room and it smelled exactly like the black English from home. After a few minutes passed Zecora got two tea cups and filled them both, keeping one for herself and giving the other to me. We just sat there for a bit, drinking the tea and enjoying the calming silence before Zecora spoke. “Is there anything that you would like to talk about?” she asked. I just shook my head “No. How about you.” I asked in return. She thought about the question. “Do you know anything about the art of alchemy?” she asked, to which she received a head shake. She thought on this a moment longer before asking “Would you like to learn?” It did not take long for my head to bounce up and down like there was a spring in my neck making is do so. And that’s what we did for the rest of the day, she taught me the basics of the trade and I listened to the best of my ability. There were a few hands on things she let me do, which was surprising to me, she had only known me for a max of about a day and a half and she is already teaching me to make potentially dangerous potions. I guess the inhabitants of this world are just trusting. Being a scientist, I am a very fast learner so coming back to the ship that night at about 19:00, I had made and kept (with Zecora’s guidance and permission of course) a grand total of four potions. When I walked in Zander and Sasha where just getting done with dinner. They had made me a plate, anticipating me being back in time to eat it. I thanked them and sat down to eat. “So what did you and Zecora do all day?” Sasha asked, a teasing under tone sneakily hidden in her words. “Nothing that you have in mind.” I replied before lifting the four brightly glowing bottles. “She taught me how to find ingredients for, and brew potions.” They looked in awe at the potions. “What do they do?” Zander asked, apparently not caring about this worlds magical properties anymore. “Well,” I started, pointing to a pink one, “this one helps skin resist small burns, the blue one helps sleep due to a calming effect with the plant it was made from, the gray one makes the top layer of skin more resistant to injury, and the last one increases blood flow to the brain, essentially making you smarter. All of these, taken in a dose of about 4oz, will last about an hour or two.” “Well that’s interesting and all but I’m getting tired, Zander, you come’n?” she asked to which he nodded. They both left the room before leaving me to my own devises. I went to the control room to make sure that everything was still running smoothly and made adjustments when needed. After that I looked at the clock and saw it was 21:00, so I got changed into the loungewear and crawled into bed, leaving the potions on the nightstand. I steeled myself for another restless night. chapter 7Time: none Location: unknown Darkness. Oh no not this shit again. I was back in what has newly been dubbed ‘memory hall’. I was still in the state of weightlessness I usually found myself in. I was at the back of the hall once again, making my way forward. No matter what I tried I could not for the life of me stop myself. I was completely out of control at that moment. My body went through the normal routine of this dream, walking up to a few doors and opening them, until we arrived at the door with the fluid leaking out and 2020 plastered on the front. The noises continued, just like last time. I reached up and swung the door open with all my force. What greeted me was the worst thing that I could imagine. My mother was leaned up against her bed, a knife held against here throat. A man I didn’t know was behind her and he was…. God no. At that point all thought was thrown out the window. The man had no idea I was there. I ran up behind him as quietly as I could. When I was right behind him, I grabbed his chin in my right hand, the back of his head in my left hand and wrapped his arm he was holding the knife in with my right leg. I pulled him back, making him fall on me in the process, his knife was under my leg and I lost my grip on his head. Once I regained my grip I force all of my might through my arms and was rewarded with a sickening crack as I snapped his neck. At that moment there was a voice louder than any other thing I’ve heard. “ENOUGH” And just like that, the environment changed completely. I was just black. Not really anything. It was like the Abyss if you ever played that old game Dark Souls©. Any way it was just black. I looked around a bit not seeing anything. Then just like that a pony appeared in front of me. I’m not going to sugarcoat it kiddies, she scared the shit out of me. Once I got over the heart attack that I almost had, I looked over her. She had a midnight blue coat and a wavy asreal mane that looked as though there were stars twinkling in it. She also had wings and a horn so I assumed this was princess Luna, from what Celestia had told us. “Hello mortal.” She spoke startling me out of my concentration. “Um, hi.” I said weakly “I wish to speak with thou in person of this dream.” She requested. I nodded and she disappeared. Seeing her in my dream really didn’t surprise me much because Celestia had already explained most of this worlds phenomenons and such. And just like that, I woke. January 3, 2030. 03:27. Location: The Atlas I woke with a start, seeing princess Luna leaning over my form. “follow.” She said simply. I nodded and made to get out of bed. She moved for me and I grabbed my sword. We walked outside and sat down on the cool earth. Neither of us spoke for a good three minutes. “Nice night hmm.” I said, trying to break the ice. “We thank thou.” She said looking over to me. “We wish to speak to you on the topic of the dream we just witnessed.” She said in a way that was both demanding but gentle at the same time. “It’s kind of a sore subject but if you don’t mind to comfort a full grown man sobbing like a bitch than I can tell you, I suppose.” I joked. She smiled and nodded for me to go on. “Where to start?” I asked myself “Ok I should probably start with where that was. That was at my old house just before I moved out. I was actually about to head off to collage the next day. I was the ignorant age of eighteen. I thought that I could take on anything. Anyway, my dad had walked out on us when I was nine, I had been the man of the house ever since. What you saw was a memory nine years later. I had just graduated high school with a 4.0 grade average and the highest sat scores in the county. I had a scholarship at one of the most prestigious and hardest schools in the country. Things were looking up for me. The night before that incident I had just packed all my bags and was heading out in the morning.” I stop for a second to collect myself. “I was awoken by a slapping sound and a scream. We had lived in a bad part of town so I thought nothing of it.” I had tears in my eyes and tried to wipe them away. “But I kept hearing it so I went to investigate. I noticed it was coming from my m-moms room. When I opened the door….” I couldn’t finish it but I think that Luna had caught on. I felt a pair of hoofs on me, but they felt familiar. I looked up only to see Zecora there. “I heard everything.” She spoke. In that moment I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed her and held her close. When I was done I put her down and she looked up at me an ‘nuzzled’ my hand. “We need to stop meeting like this.” I stated with a weak smile. “I don’t mind I the bit Sam.” She said good naturedly (I think) I smiled and nodded looking up at Luna. “I there anything else you needed princess?” I asked. “Not at the moment young ‘Sam’ but I wish for you to visit my sister and I at some point,” She said summoning nine gold coins. “use these to buy tickets for the train, we will have escorts come here when we are ready for you.” She finished giving me the coins. “Would I be allowed to accompany them princess?” Zecora asked, surprising me a bit. “Of course miss Zecora.” Luna said acquiring three more coins from hammer space and handing/hoofing them to the Zebra. “We think it is time we made our leave” she started before I cut her off. “No disrespect princess but we never properly introduced ourselves.” She thought for a second. “Very well, We art princess Luna of Equestria.” She said lifting here hoof to her chest. “I am captain Samuel Paris, leader of the atlas project.” I said saluting and gesturing to the craft. She nodded and flew off without another word. I looked to Zecora and shrugged. “Thanks, I really needed that.” She nodded and jumped up and hugged my mid-section. “Anything for a friend such as you.” she said I chuckled and hugged her back for a second before letting go and heading back to the ship, looking back and waving in the process. When I got back to the room it was 04:12. I could still get an hour in. So I climbed into bed, after taking a swig of the calming potion. I fell asleep almost instantly. chapter 8January 3, 2030. 05:30. Location: The Atlas *bzzz* *bzzz* *bzzz* Oh sweet Jesus please tell me they’re not *bzzz* *bzzz* *bzzz* Oh never mind, it’s just the phone alarm that has failed to wake me every morning. What’s that, you didn’t know I had a phone. We all have one. The company we worked for gave them to us for some reason. I don’t know why but I’m not going to question someone giving me a free phone. “Who’s taking the bathroom first this ti-“ Zander started to say before being so rudely cut off by the bathroom door slamming and locking. I would have looked him strangely, but I was already in the shower. I went through the normal routine and then emerged from the water closet, felling fresh. As I walked to the kitchen my mind was plagued by things to do for today. “Hey Sam, we’re running low on food, could you do something about that?” Zander yelled from the kitchen. Well that was a gift sent from heaven. “Sure, what do we have in stock now?” I asked. “Well, we have some dried fruit and one banana for some reason.” Zander responded looking around the kitchen. “Throw me the banana and I’ll head out.” He nodded and threw me the yellow crescent of potassium and fiber. After devouring it in the most sexual way possible for the soul purpose of making everyone in the room uncomfortable as hell I moved to the lounge to gather my gear. For some reason that banana was the best one I had ever had. I had my greatsword and my two daggers. I strapped the sword to my back and hid the knives in my boots. Once that was done I walked out, said my goodbyes and left the station. January 3, 2030. 06:30. Location: The Everfree Forest The second I left the station the cool crisp morning air of the forest assaulted my face. It was so much better than the polluted city air I was used to. As I stated walking I saw my favorite little zebra neighbor. She was doing the meditation thing on the stick. “Hey Zecora!” I said, a little louder than needed. Surprisingly she didn’t lose her focus. “Good morning Sam did you sleep well?” she responded happily. I moved up closer “Well, after the little confrontation last night I guess I did.” I said as she climbed off her stick. This caused her smile to strain. She looked at me and hugged me around my mid-section. This wasn’t as weird as it had been the first time so I hugged back without hesitation. “You know if you need to talk about it anymore you can talk to me or the princesses right?” she asked. I nodded in response and we released each other. “Maybe later, we’re running low on food so I need to go gather some.” I said, starting to walk off. “Wait, I will accompany you.” She said grabbing her stick. I shrugged and motioned for her to come on. She ran after me and we continued into the forest. “Thanks for coming along.” I said as we walked. “It was no trouble at all, I hand no other plan for today anyway.” She replied. We found some plants along the way and some small game, such as rabbits and squirrels. Zecora looked away as I captured them. I felt bad, but what can you do. We finished gathering about seven hours later. As we were heading back, I felt a lingering since of dread over me. I looked over to Zecora to see her rigid as the staff on her back. I snapped her out of it and looked around, only to see a pair of eyes…. Then another…. Then another. At this point I had my sword out yelling at whatever it is to come out. The thing that came out was not what I had expected. It was a large quadruped with three heads. The head to the left of us was that of a tiger. The one in the middle was a snake, which was apparently the tail as well. The last and certainly least was a comically out of place goat. The body itself was in two parts. The one closest to us was that of the tiger, pointy bits and all. The back half was goat like in form. We stared down at each other for about fifteen seconds before it struck. As fast as a blink the chimera, I believe it was called, ran at me, claws extended. I blocked the blow with the flat of my blade, planning a counter-attack at the creature’s torso as the tail lunged at me. The screams that emitted from my throat was enough to snap Zecora out of the stupor she was in. She took her staff in her hoofs, taking a bipedal stance, which I found as odd as I could with snake venom in my shoulder. Zecora then got the thing’s attention, by way of breaking one of the goats horn off. The snake let go of my arm and I grabbed my straight dagger from my boot and slice the snake off the body. After replacing my dagger, I retrieved my sword from the ground, just in time to block another strike from a tiger claw. I look to check on me fighting companion only to see she has knocked out the goat. I looked back to the tiger only to see it going for my neck. I side steep and cut into the things neck. The whole body slumped. After I caught my breath I walked to the goat head and broke its neck. With the help of Zecora we got the thing back to the Atlas. Zander and Sasha meet us outside. Zecora kept the snake head, for reasons undenounced to me, then went back to her hut. Zander and Sasha took the corpse and other game to the back to ‘prepare’ the food. Me? I walked inside, ate dinner, took a shot of potion, and collapsed on my bed. chapter 1January 1, 2030, 00:00 ship ID:663524 ship name: "Atlas" "Well this is just typical." I announce to myself as we were propelled through space. I had known when I took this job that I was going to miss a lot going on down there, but its much worse when it happens. My team and I were being sent to the moon to seek out any reason for the rise in heat that may be coming from outer space or the moon itself. It was getting so bad in places that they had to be evacuated, but the strangest thing was the fact that some of the places were normally cool or cold. Well anyway we just missed new years. I like to think that I could see the ball dropping from here but, I knew better. "Sam we all knew this was going happen when we got in to the program." Zander, retorting to my bitching. Right even he agrees. I glanced back at him with a deadpan expression and took in his features. He was fairly tall, about 6'10 with dark brown hair and light brown eyes and hair. "Don't you feel anything for missing one of the most important times of the year." I said with a bit of curiosity and slightly more bafflement. "Can you boys get in here and help with the navigation!" our engineer, Sasha, shouted from the front. Ahh the Atlas, a feat of human ingenuity that still had to be steered manually. "Sure thing babe! Sam you coming?" Zander asked me. "Na, I haven't hit me quota for avoiding social contact yet, I'll just stay here and stare longingly at the Earth if its all the same." I answered looking back to the window, but as I did I noticed something. There was land in Greenland that looked less green or white and more, well, bright for lack of a better word. "You sure, okay we'll call if we need you." Zander said walking away. "Yeah yeah, don't do anything I wouldn't do." I said half distractedly, looking at the patches. He nodded looking back with a half smirk. As he left I looked back to Greenland with a bad feeling in my stomach but decided to leave it as an assumption and longed further for my soft bed and TV. Oh the TV! As I looked I zoned out a bit thinking of many thinks like if I left the gas on or not. when I came out my trans I noticed the patches of light had engulfed half of the earth and was noticeable spreading. "Guys get in here now!" I yelled in fear. they ran in and saw what I was refereeing to. Their reactions are as follows; Sasha looked as though this did not compute in the slightest. Zander's reaction was, well unique, he curled up in fetal position and rolled around muttering incoherent bullshit. Me? I passed out but not before seeing a light brighter than anything I've ever seen, then darkness.
chapter 2January 1 ,2030, 9:00. Location: Unknown. All there was, was pain of every variant. I woke up feeling the aftermath of the earths ascension and all the implications behind it. All of it was gone, my home, my family, my life and the God damn TV. I suppose to prevent further mental derogation, I should think positively about my situation, or stop thinking about it all together. Well I still have Zander and Sasha…… Never mind. Ok, not thinking about it anymore. Alright, time to take in my surroundings. I was still in the ship which could be good or bad depending on who was looking at it. Zander and Sasha had apparently passed out with me at some point. Sasha was leaning against the wall in a seated position, eyes closed. Zander was next to her still in fetal position. Everything seems to be in order here so I decided to check the window. What I saw was the last thing I would ever expect. A dark and pretty dank forest. Although some of the rare pepes I’ve seen were slightly more dank. Anyway, back to the forest, there were vines, trees, and such everywhere. What the hell did that light come for or where for that matter? I decided to put my questioning on hold and explore a bit. After checking the pulse’s of my team to make sure they were still alive, afterwards putting them in they’re shared bed. I stepped into the kitchen after making sure they were good. The way the Atlas was set up, it was a cylinder with the rooms going un a line. The control room was in the front, behind that was the lounge/living quarters and bath rooms, next was the kitchen lastly the air lock. I was on my way through the kitchen when I realized something. I was starving. I looked at the clock and saw it was 9:08. I grabbed a powdery breakfast and rehydrated it and was rewarded by a whole breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and most importantly, bacon. Once I was done, I set two more plates, packets and glasses of water out, afterwards, I went to the air lock and looked at my space contact suit (SCS for short) and sighed. I put it on, thinking the oxygen percentage may be too low for humans to survive. Once that was done, I made my way to the air lock and went through the tedious task of locking the main chambers off from the air lock and opened the door to the outside. The outside just looked like a normal forest from earth. That thought triggered a multitude of negative thoughts that I immediately pushed out of my mind. As I stepped further out I got some notifications through my visor that said the oxygen level was slightly higher than back home, about 27% with nitrogen and other such gasses taking the rest. So it was safe to breath. I’m still going to keep the suit on, it was designed to keep the wearer alive through almost anything. How do I know this? Well I designed it because I am one paranoid mother fucker. As I looked around I saw something I hadn’t seen before. A small tribal looking hut. Well that was less expected than the forest. But what was the metaphorical carrot on the proverbial cupcake was a miniature zebra walked out of the hut. Yeah if I didn’t have the SCS on I would have blamed it on something in the air. But nope, there was a zebra le miniature on my newly established neighbor’s front lawn, that was staring into my soul with huge emerald green eyes. Seriously there could not have been any room for brain matter in there because the eyes alone looked like they took up half the face at least. But what happen next probably made my life expectance come ever so closer to my current age of 27. “A strange creature coming out a strange craft, if this had not been happening to me, I would have laughed.” It talked. Yeah, I think I pasted out then and there. Zecora’s POV “A strange sight indeed, or perhaps a creature in need?” I said to myself as I walked to the passed out…… thing. I couldn’t tell what it was, but I could tell that it meant no harm to me. I brought it back to my hut and set it up a space to rest. Once that was done I tried to find a way to take off the unusual looking suit. I found the release on the back and opened it to reveal a creature just big enough to fill the suit snugly. I also found the suit had two parts to it; The suit itself and the headgear. As I removed the headgear an unexpected sight met my eyes. The ‘face’ was flat, safe a short mound I could only assume was its….. no his nose. He had a small mouth with equally small ears and eyes. The eyes themselves were a dark green that… wait, that’s not right. Sam’s POV Welllllll shit. The zebra lookin mother fucker was staring into my eyes. It wasn’t the worst way to go but who wants to make it to the pearly gates just to tell Saint Peter that you got completely devoured by a mini zebra. Anyway it was staring at me. I decided to speak to get things moving. “So, you gonna get it over with and eat me already?”. I can be snarky when someone has the upper hand/hoof on me. It reeled back as if my face had just sprouted flaming tentacles. “Oh, no no no! I wish not to taste flesh this day, or in my next life I surely shall pay!”. Oh, so she was an herbivore. I guess the teeth should have given it away. Then she spoke again. “Do you have a name strange being, or would that be too revealing?” Ok what is up with the rhyming. “I suppose it was rude of me to not introduce myself,” I said standing up and giving a salute. “I am captain Samuel Paris, leader of the Atlas and its crew. Now who are you, what are you, where are we, and where is my suit?”. I asked/ stated to the strange being. “And as a side note please stop rhyming, it can’t be easy and its making me a bit uncomfortable”. I was trying not be mean with that last part. I’m not sure how it came out but she didn’t seem dismayed in the least replying with: “It is not difficult in the least, but if you don’t like it I will leave it to a minimum.” I nodded replying with a thank you. From that point we just talked about ourselves, Zecora, she told me her name was, kept her promise and rhymed rarely and only out of habit, I learned I was in no area even near earth, in reality I think we’re in another galaxy altogether. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 13:00. “Zecora, I think I need to go check on my crew, they should be up by now.” “Yes, that is probably wise, but can I come with you, I would like to meet your ‘team’.” she said getting up from her sitting position. I thought about it and said “I don’t know if it would be a good idea right now, I mean they probably just woke up after just watching there home planet ascend to a star that not only burned every thing they ever loved but everyone too.” I said looking away tears in my eyes at the memory. ”It’s nothing against you it’s just they’re probably not in the best state of mind right now.” I continued seeing her sad expression. She looked at me and said “Maybe I can help, I have been known to remedy not only the body, but the heart and mind as well.” I thought about and decided she was right, so I nodded and motioned for her to follow me. She smiled and nodded as well. I grabbed my suit, which was conveniently placed by my ‘bed’ then headed out the door. The ship was just I had left it. We got outside the airlock and I put in the code and key and it slid open. Since the advanced technology ‘sensed’ there was sufficient air quality both doors opened as I opened the front one. The only thought in my mind was oh God I hope this works.
chapter 3January 1, 2030, 13:03. Location: The Everfree Forest Sam’s POV The first thing I see when the door opens completely is Sasha looking at me with one of the stalest expressions I’d ever seen. “Who’s your new friend Sam?” she said as if this were a normal occurrence. “You don’t seem very surprised.” I stated with some bafflement. “Why should I be? I just watched everything I’ve ever known go up in flames. Besides, its not like it can talk or anything.” She stated bitterly. “Yes, I have heard of your endeavors and feel great sorrow from all of you. Therefore, I am here to help.” Zecora said making the fact she could speak known. Sasha looked at me with a calm visage. “Sam?” “Yes?” “Did that little zebra just speak, in perfect English no less?” “Yes, yes SHE did. Maybe you two should introduce yourselves.” Zecora spoke up first with “Hello miss, my name is Zecora and, as you can see I am a zebra.” She held her hoof out for a shake. Hesitantly, Sasha took it and they shook appendages. “I'm Sasha Wright, I’m sorry for being rude earlier.” Sasha said a bit ashamedly. “All is forgiven, you have had a rough day and night, have you not?” Zecora asked. Sasha nodded and I spoke up a bit. “Um, not to interrupt ‘get to know your new neighbor but Sasha, where is Zander.” Sasha looked a bit sad at the question but answered saying “He… well, he’s in the lounge. He ain’t taking… ya know, real well.” I thought on that for a minute and asked “How are you holding up?” I saw a tear in her eye before she looked away. “Go…go check on Zander.” She got out. I nodded and motioned for Zecora to follow. Sasha always tried to be tough for some reason. I guess that’s why Zander liked her. Walking into the room I saw him laying on the bed. “Zander, you ok buddy?” At this point I knew how to handle him when he was like this. I meet him in grade school and we’ve been inseparable since. “What do you think?” he retorted with as much venom as I had heard from him. I walked over as quietly, as was normal for me, and sat down at the end of the bed. Then I motioned for Zecora to go to the kitchen and talk to Sasha. She nodded and walked out. I leaned over and put my hand on Zander’s shoulder. “Zander you have to be strong, for Sasha, for me, and for everyone we left behind. But most importantly, you have to be strong for yourself.” I said trying to at least get him out of this state. “Please, get Sasha.” He pleaded. I nodded and ran off to get her. “Hey Sasha, he wants to see you.” I said hopping that she could do something. She nodded saying bye to Zecora. She walked out of the kitchen shutting the door behind her. I sat down at the table. It was small but could fit about 4 people at it. Zecora sat at the closest place near me. Honestly this was all so surreal. I go into space to find a problem, only to see said ‘problem’ devour my whole planet along with everything I knew. Then we’re transported to, from what Zecora has told me, the magical land of ponies and the plethora of Greek creatures of myth, and I immediately trust the first one I meet and…. Wait, why am I warm. I look down and see the zebra in my lap, hugging my torso. I also noticed I was crying. So I did the logical thing. I hugged back and balled my eyes out. When I was I looked back Zecora. “Thanks, I think I needed that.” She nodded smiling a little smile. After the exchange she hopped off. Then I heard a noise outside. I waited a minute and was rewarded by a knock at the door. “Who could that be, nopony lives in the forest but me.” Zecora said, slipping back into rhymes in here confusion. I gave her an irritable glare and went to open the door. With the sight that greeted me I said the first thing I could think. “You are one big fucking pony”
chapter 4January 1, 2030. 13:30 Location: The Atlas Third person POV "You are one big fucking pony" Sam blandly stated. "Well that's quite interesting." said the mysterious mare. "What do you mean?" Sam asked curiously. "You can speak Equish!" exclaimed the bleach colored pony. "You know I could say the exact same thing to you." Sam deadpanned. "What do you mean?". "Well.... You ARE a talking horse." To get off this awkward topic, the curious mare changed the subject as quickly as she could. "Sooooo, I sensed in a relatively near galaxy that a widely inhabited planet's core was expanding, and also noticed a small craft leaving the surface, twelve hours before ascension, when I tried to look in, and then it disappeared, and what do you know, that very ship landed here. How did you do it?" "I haven't the faintest of clue. The only thing that I remember is that I saw the brightest light I have ever seen, then we ended here." Sam motioned the mare inside. " I didn't catch your name?" inquired Sam. " My name is Princess Celestia.". "Princess? I didn't know I was speaking to royalty!" Sam sputtered like a bitch with a bit of sarcasm. ". "Its fine you didn't know, now if I might ask your name?" "Sam, ma'am". He said, taking a bow "Wow how well mannered all of a sudden. Well Sam, what are you?". " I'm a human, there are two others, my crew, but they're not exactly available at the moment." She nodded her approval and they, along with Zecora, walked over to the kitchen table to discus various topics.
chapter 5January 1, 2030, 13:35. Location “The Atlas” Sam’s POV As we all piled into the kitchen, some thoughts raced through my head like I had just called the princess of this nation a “Big fucking pony” or maybe the fact that I was in the same room as a pega-corn princess in the first place. Regardless, we were walking over to the kitchen when the two previously forgotten humans came into the room. “Ahh, this must be the rest of your crew, yes?” Celestia asked, a bit surprised at their sudden appearance “Yes princess this is my crew. The tall one is Zander and the slightly shorter one is Sasha. Sasha, Zander meet princess Celestia of Equestria.” I said. Sasha bowed but Zander just stood there like a jackass, just taking in the talking horses. I really hadn’t noticed at this point but I was the shortest one there. Well at least by normal pony standards I’m relatively tall. The princess is about a head taller than me and Zecora comes to about my chest so I didn’t let it bother me. “ Wow Sam, you’ve already made more friends here than back on earth.” Sasha quipped causing a swift glare of annoyance from me. “Well why don’t we get the serious things out of the way first so we can move on to happier topics.” Celestia said getting everyone’s attentions and lead us over to the table. “I’ll go get the chair from the lounge and some drinks, what would everyone like?” I asked getting a mixed response of coffee and tea. 2 coffees and 2 teas for those picky bastards out there. I myself preferred tea so once I got the extra chair and brewed the refreshments we all sat down at the table, Sasha, Zecora, Zander and I in the dinning room chairs while Celestia took the recliner, being bigger than everyone there, with the exception of Zander. “So” Celestia started “I believe that we should start with your planet, if it’s not too much trouble of course.” “Well what about it?” I asked a bit harshly. “I just want to know if you know anything about what happened to it.” Celestia said. “I’m sorry princess, but at the moment I only have speculation on what could have happened if you would like to hear that?” I asked. She nodded so I continued. “I believe that somehow, within the mantle of the Earths core, nuclear fusion began, oh lets say 500 years ago. Between that time the earth was expanding and getting hotter. We blamed the rise in heat on our own stupidity and use of greenhouse gasses. But we could not have been more wrong. Just two days ago the heat had become unbearable in places so we were sent to space to see if the heat spikes were coming from there, but one in our trek, we watched as the mantle consumed everything we loved” I along with my crew were openly crying at this point. Even Zecora and Celestia had a few tear coming down their cheeks. “That is quite the story Samuel, and you did answer a couple more of my questions, but now I need to gauge if you or your team are a threat.” Celestia said getting a cold glare on her face. “Princess I can assure you-“ Zecora tried to say before being cut off by the white mare. “I wish to see for myself. Now Samuel, I have more questions for you and your team to answer. First I would like to know if you have anything on this craft that could be used as a weapon and if so would any of you wish to use them against me or my little ponies?” Celetsia asked with the scariest look I have ever seen on a horse. We all did have our own weapons because we were all allowed one personal item as long as it could fit through the door. I responded with “Yes, we all have one weapon we were allowed to take with us and no we would never want to harm anyone unless they tried to harm us first.” “Please, retrieve them.” She said and without a second thought we got up and got our ‘things’. Zander had brought the biggest fucking meatal stick I have ever seen. It was taller than him if that means anything. It had a spiral design on it and looked heavier than the owner, but only weighed 7 pounds somehow. Sasha had brought a pair of brass knuckles. They had love and hate written across the knuckles. I had cheated a bit. The only thing the records that are now a fine ash showed I brought was a great sword that was an inch shorter than me, but being the sneaky little snake I am, I snuck two assassin daggers in my boots. The great sword was comparable to a big scimitar with a longer hilt and an extra handle half way up. The daggers were a different story. They were small, about 10 inches in length each. The only difference is one had a straight double-edged blade while the other had a single serrated edge. Celestia looked in shock at the items placed on the table. She picked up Zanders bo staff with her magic and examined it. Zander looked at it in a similar state of shock. “What are you doing?” Zander shouted which was the first time he had spoken. Its funny because I was usually the quiet one “Oh right you must not know about magic. I won’t get to far into detail but just know that unicorns and alicorns can use magic for a multitude of tasks while earth ponies and pegasi use it passively to fly and control weather, and to grow crops and abnormal strength respectively.” Zander looked around I disbelief before raising his hands in a sign of defeat grabbing his staff from the table, he walked back to the ‘man cave’ before shutting the door. “Zander, get back here.” I hissed trying to get his attenition. “This is too weird for me, I’ll come out later.” He said from the other side. I silently cursed to myself before looking back to the princess. “Yeah sorry about him, he doesn’t like things he can’t understand.” I apologized she nodded and I sat back down. “Now, I would like to get on a less grim topic, such as what you did for work before your arrival.” Celestia mentioned and Sasha instantly perked. “I was an astro, civic and bio engineer, having PhDs in each field.” Sasha said proudly. Celestia looked impressed. She then looked to me. I took that as my queue. “I was an astro-engineer and theoretical physicist and Zander was the solar navigator of our happy little crew.” I said The rest of us waited for Celestia to say something then she spoke. “I have one final question; what will you do now.” The question surprised me a little, but not as much as the answer I gave. “I don’t know.” Three words, fairly simple but carried with them realization. I don’t have a clue what to do next. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Then I thought a little on the matter. “I think for now we will just try to survive, maybe sate some curiosity by studying the surrounding phenomenon and magic if we can.” Celestia looked happy with that answer. Then suddenly a scroll popped out of thin air and landed on the table. She picked it up studying it for about seven seconds before she stood. “I’m sorry everypony, but I am need elsewhere is there anything you need to know before I go?” she said sounding rushed. We shook our heads and she went towards the air-lock. “It was nice to meet you Princess.” I said. She looked back and smirked slightly. “Please, refer to me as if I were your friend.” She said shocking me a bit, but I nodded and then she was out the door. I just stood there for a minute. “Well, Sasha, let’s go check and see if we need to move the ship we can.” I said. She nodded and we headed to the front, Zecora following, picking up Zander on the way. January 1, 2030, 19:13. Location: The Atlas Sam’s POV We had checked all the systems and they seemed to be running properly. Then fuel was at around fifty percent, but that was fine. We had extra and the Atlas was outfitted with three types of engines, one of which is a biomass engine. Why? Because I designed it and I am one paranoid mother fucker, as I have said before. I looked at the clock. Wow, had we talked for that long or had we been checking the systems for longer than I thought. Zecora had asked us questions and she sat near me. Well I think the questions were directed to me but the others answered most of them. It was getting a bit late so I asked Zecora to stay for dinner. She nodded and we headed off to the kitchen once again. Remembering how upset she got when I mentioned her eating me, I retrieved the dried and dehydrated packets of fruits and vegetables. “Say, Zecora what do you want to drink?” I asked as I put the plate of powder in front of her and poring some water on it. She gave me a strange look until she saw it change. I love this new age food. “Water will be fine.” She responded to my earlier question. So we ate and chatted a bit about various things. After we all finished eating we bid Zecora a farewell. It was about 20:00 at this point so we all decided to go on to sleep. As I slipped into my bed, I thought of everything that lead me to this point. My last thought before drifting off was of my family and my friends I left behind. Then sleep took me.
chapter 6January ?, 2030, ??:??. Location:? Darkness. All around. I was seeing myself from a third person position. The darkness was in me. The darkness was me. Doors, doors with years carved in them. 2003, 2004, 2005 and so on. I opened one with a 2007 on it and saw my fourth birthday, along with my first meeting with Zander. What the hell? I continued until I got to a door with a substance leaking from it. 2020. No. no, no, no, that was over that happened over a decade ago. I saw myself reaching for the door knob. No don’t do it. I kept going. Don’t you do it! I tried to will the hand to move away. My hand finally reached the door and it swung open. My ‘consciousness’ was sucked into the room. Inside I was looking from my own prospective. I was walking down the hall of my old house. I heard small, almost inaudible noises coming from the room at the end of the hall. My mother’s room. I begged and pleaded with myself to not go but it didn’t do much. I had made it to the end of the hall. The noises had picked up. I was slowly reaching up to the door when I heard a scream from inside. I had lift my hand to the knob just before feeling a swimming sensation and then darkness. January 2, 2030, 05:30. Location: The Atlas I awoke with a start. A cold perspiration covering my skin. Zander was above me, hands on my shoulders. “Dream again?” he asked a look of concern on his face. I nodded and made to get up. He moved over so I could do so and I moved toward the bathroom. Sasha was still snoring loudly so I knew she wasn’t in there at the moment. As I walked in, I looked around. It wasn’t anything too luxurious, just a bath/shower, a sink, and a toilet that reused our waste for plumbing and the biomass engine. Fun. I locked the door, then walked to the shower. “I really need to get a piping system if this is where we plan to stay for the rest of our lives.” I said to myself as I turned on the shower and striped there was no heating system for budget reasons but that was fine. I hopped in got myself clean and hopped out. While I was in there I thought of a multitude of things, like how did we spontaneously get transported to a world an unmeasurable distance from where we began. After the shower I looked in the mirror, I had seen that face every time I did so. My skin was a milky white, with a few blemishes here and there. I had the features of any other white male of my age did. My hair was a dark brown, almost black. There was a slight stubble growing up my face, the same color as my hair. But there were always two features that caught my attention more than anything else. My eyes, a dark forest green, and the scar that ran down between them, curving slightly to the left, just missing my eye. I blinked once or twice trying to clear my head. I reach for the razor that we kept on board for facial hair purposes. I cleared the stubble but kept the mustache and chin spike. Why? I don’t know. I just always did. I got dressed in the lounging clothes that I had brought in with me and walked out. The first thing I noticed when I walked out was the smell of freshly heated rehydrated bacon that was not fresh in any way. I walked into the kitchen, seeing and greeting Zander and Sasha. The former was preparing the food while Sasha sat at the table, polishing her brass knuckles. I always tried telling Zander that sasha was the one that wore the pants in their relationship….. that was until I saw him almost kill three armed robbers with his bare hands. Ahh good times. Anyways, I walked over to the ‘kitchen’ area of the kitchen and helped Zander with the beverages. After breakfast was consumed I asked the all-important question. “Well, what now?” “I think that we need to just stay here. There isn’t any need to go off and die in a god forsaken forest now should we?” Zander said sagely, sipping at his coffee. “I agree with Zander, Zecora and Celestia both said this forest is dangerous, and I don’t feel like testing that for myself.” Sasha said. “Well I think that I’m going to go to Zecora’s, see if she needs help or see what she can tell me about living around in this neck of the woods.” I said as I walked toward the door. We had shut down the air lock for the time being for obvious reasons. They groaned at my pun. “And remember, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” I teased walking out of the door. “As long as you take your own advice.” I heard Sasha yell back. I acted like I didn’t hear her. January 2, 2030, 07:10. Location: Zecora’s hut. Sam’s POV As I walked to the strange little hut I saw Zecora outside of it doing….. something. I walked up to her. For some reason she was balancing on her head on what looked like a wood version of Zanders bo staff. “And hear I thought ponies couldn’t get any weirder.” I said. Her eyes flew open wide like she hadn’t noticed I was there. “Good morning Sam, how did you sleep?” she asked tilting her head, somehow without falling off. “Fine,” I lied “how about you?” I asked “I slept as well as one can in the forest” she answered finishing whatever she was doing on that stick and hopping off. “though” she continued “by the color under your eyes I would say the same is true for you.” I was more than a little shocked but she smiled up at me. “You don’t have to tell me, just know that you can if need be.” I nodded and decided to change the subject. “So, what were you doing on that stick?” I asked bluntly. “I was meditating.” She said. “I’m trying to start a conversation but you’re not helping.” I said, with an annoyed directed towards her. She just laughed. “Well why don’t start with why you came for a visit?” She asked. Why had I come out here? “Right, um, I completely forgot why.” I said, averting my eyes from her. “That’s fine, I’ll just get some tea, and we can talk or do whatever neighbors do.” She said heading for her hut. “Sure, I’d love to talk with you more.” I said following her into her hut. January 2, 2030, 07:20. Location: Zecora’s hut. As we walked into the hut, there were some features that I had looked over when I had been in it and seen it from the outside. The most notable of which was the fact it looked like it was carved out of a big ass tree. Other than that, it looked like any other tribal hut I had ever seen. There was a large cooking caldron in the middle with shelfs carved into the walls that housed various types of bottles and containers. “What type of tea do you prefer?” Zecora asked looking back at me. I had to think for a moment to find the right word. “Do you have black equish?” I asked. She, to my surprise nodded and went to get the ingredients to make it. I was still sitting there, thinking how this tea could be different from what I’m used to when a familiar smell hit my nostrils. It was coming from the caldron in the middle of the room and it smelled exactly like the black English from home. After a few minutes passed Zecora got two tea cups and filled them both, keeping one for herself and giving the other to me. We just sat there for a bit, drinking the tea and enjoying the calming silence before Zecora spoke. “Is there anything that you would like to talk about?” she asked. I just shook my head “No. How about you.” I asked in return. She thought about the question. “Do you know anything about the art of alchemy?” she asked, to which she received a head shake. She thought on this a moment longer before asking “Would you like to learn?” It did not take long for my head to bounce up and down like there was a spring in my neck making is do so. And that’s what we did for the rest of the day, she taught me the basics of the trade and I listened to the best of my ability. There were a few hands on things she let me do, which was surprising to me, she had only known me for a max of about a day and a half and she is already teaching me to make potentially dangerous potions. I guess the inhabitants of this world are just trusting. Being a scientist, I am a very fast learner so coming back to the ship that night at about 19:00, I had made and kept (with Zecora’s guidance and permission of course) a grand total of four potions. When I walked in Zander and Sasha where just getting done with dinner. They had made me a plate, anticipating me being back in time to eat it. I thanked them and sat down to eat. “So what did you and Zecora do all day?” Sasha asked, a teasing under tone sneakily hidden in her words. “Nothing that you have in mind.” I replied before lifting the four brightly glowing bottles. “She taught me how to find ingredients for, and brew potions.” They looked in awe at the potions. “What do they do?” Zander asked, apparently not caring about this worlds magical properties anymore. “Well,” I started, pointing to a pink one, “this one helps skin resist small burns, the blue one helps sleep due to a calming effect with the plant it was made from, the gray one makes the top layer of skin more resistant to injury, and the last one increases blood flow to the brain, essentially making you smarter. All of these, taken in a dose of about 4oz, will last about an hour or two.” “Well that’s interesting and all but I’m getting tired, Zander, you come’n?” she asked to which he nodded. They both left the room before leaving me to my own devises. I went to the control room to make sure that everything was still running smoothly and made adjustments when needed. After that I looked at the clock and saw it was 21:00, so I got changed into the loungewear and crawled into bed, leaving the potions on the nightstand. I steeled myself for another restless night.
chapter 7Time: none Location: unknown Darkness. Oh no not this shit again. I was back in what has newly been dubbed ‘memory hall’. I was still in the state of weightlessness I usually found myself in. I was at the back of the hall once again, making my way forward. No matter what I tried I could not for the life of me stop myself. I was completely out of control at that moment. My body went through the normal routine of this dream, walking up to a few doors and opening them, until we arrived at the door with the fluid leaking out and 2020 plastered on the front. The noises continued, just like last time. I reached up and swung the door open with all my force. What greeted me was the worst thing that I could imagine. My mother was leaned up against her bed, a knife held against here throat. A man I didn’t know was behind her and he was…. God no. At that point all thought was thrown out the window. The man had no idea I was there. I ran up behind him as quietly as I could. When I was right behind him, I grabbed his chin in my right hand, the back of his head in my left hand and wrapped his arm he was holding the knife in with my right leg. I pulled him back, making him fall on me in the process, his knife was under my leg and I lost my grip on his head. Once I regained my grip I force all of my might through my arms and was rewarded with a sickening crack as I snapped his neck. At that moment there was a voice louder than any other thing I’ve heard. “ENOUGH” And just like that, the environment changed completely. I was just black. Not really anything. It was like the Abyss if you ever played that old game Dark Souls©. Any way it was just black. I looked around a bit not seeing anything. Then just like that a pony appeared in front of me. I’m not going to sugarcoat it kiddies, she scared the shit out of me. Once I got over the heart attack that I almost had, I looked over her. She had a midnight blue coat and a wavy asreal mane that looked as though there were stars twinkling in it. She also had wings and a horn so I assumed this was princess Luna, from what Celestia had told us. “Hello mortal.” She spoke startling me out of my concentration. “Um, hi.” I said weakly “I wish to speak with thou in person of this dream.” She requested. I nodded and she disappeared. Seeing her in my dream really didn’t surprise me much because Celestia had already explained most of this worlds phenomenons and such. And just like that, I woke. January 3, 2030. 03:27. Location: The Atlas I woke with a start, seeing princess Luna leaning over my form. “follow.” She said simply. I nodded and made to get out of bed. She moved for me and I grabbed my sword. We walked outside and sat down on the cool earth. Neither of us spoke for a good three minutes. “Nice night hmm.” I said, trying to break the ice. “We thank thou.” She said looking over to me. “We wish to speak to you on the topic of the dream we just witnessed.” She said in a way that was both demanding but gentle at the same time. “It’s kind of a sore subject but if you don’t mind to comfort a full grown man sobbing like a bitch than I can tell you, I suppose.” I joked. She smiled and nodded for me to go on. “Where to start?” I asked myself “Ok I should probably start with where that was. That was at my old house just before I moved out. I was actually about to head off to collage the next day. I was the ignorant age of eighteen. I thought that I could take on anything. Anyway, my dad had walked out on us when I was nine, I had been the man of the house ever since. What you saw was a memory nine years later. I had just graduated high school with a 4.0 grade average and the highest sat scores in the county. I had a scholarship at one of the most prestigious and hardest schools in the country. Things were looking up for me. The night before that incident I had just packed all my bags and was heading out in the morning.” I stop for a second to collect myself. “I was awoken by a slapping sound and a scream. We had lived in a bad part of town so I thought nothing of it.” I had tears in my eyes and tried to wipe them away. “But I kept hearing it so I went to investigate. I noticed it was coming from my m-moms room. When I opened the door….” I couldn’t finish it but I think that Luna had caught on. I felt a pair of hoofs on me, but they felt familiar. I looked up only to see Zecora there. “I heard everything.” She spoke. In that moment I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed her and held her close. When I was done I put her down and she looked up at me an ‘nuzzled’ my hand. “We need to stop meeting like this.” I stated with a weak smile. “I don’t mind I the bit Sam.” She said good naturedly (I think) I smiled and nodded looking up at Luna. “I there anything else you needed princess?” I asked. “Not at the moment young ‘Sam’ but I wish for you to visit my sister and I at some point,” She said summoning nine gold coins. “use these to buy tickets for the train, we will have escorts come here when we are ready for you.” She finished giving me the coins. “Would I be allowed to accompany them princess?” Zecora asked, surprising me a bit. “Of course miss Zecora.” Luna said acquiring three more coins from hammer space and handing/hoofing them to the Zebra. “We think it is time we made our leave” she started before I cut her off. “No disrespect princess but we never properly introduced ourselves.” She thought for a second. “Very well, We art princess Luna of Equestria.” She said lifting here hoof to her chest. “I am captain Samuel Paris, leader of the atlas project.” I said saluting and gesturing to the craft. She nodded and flew off without another word. I looked to Zecora and shrugged. “Thanks, I really needed that.” She nodded and jumped up and hugged my mid-section. “Anything for a friend such as you.” she said I chuckled and hugged her back for a second before letting go and heading back to the ship, looking back and waving in the process. When I got back to the room it was 04:12. I could still get an hour in. So I climbed into bed, after taking a swig of the calming potion. I fell asleep almost instantly.
chapter 8January 3, 2030. 05:30. Location: The Atlas *bzzz* *bzzz* *bzzz* Oh sweet Jesus please tell me they’re not *bzzz* *bzzz* *bzzz* Oh never mind, it’s just the phone alarm that has failed to wake me every morning. What’s that, you didn’t know I had a phone. We all have one. The company we worked for gave them to us for some reason. I don’t know why but I’m not going to question someone giving me a free phone. “Who’s taking the bathroom first this ti-“ Zander started to say before being so rudely cut off by the bathroom door slamming and locking. I would have looked him strangely, but I was already in the shower. I went through the normal routine and then emerged from the water closet, felling fresh. As I walked to the kitchen my mind was plagued by things to do for today. “Hey Sam, we’re running low on food, could you do something about that?” Zander yelled from the kitchen. Well that was a gift sent from heaven. “Sure, what do we have in stock now?” I asked. “Well, we have some dried fruit and one banana for some reason.” Zander responded looking around the kitchen. “Throw me the banana and I’ll head out.” He nodded and threw me the yellow crescent of potassium and fiber. After devouring it in the most sexual way possible for the soul purpose of making everyone in the room uncomfortable as hell I moved to the lounge to gather my gear. For some reason that banana was the best one I had ever had. I had my greatsword and my two daggers. I strapped the sword to my back and hid the knives in my boots. Once that was done I walked out, said my goodbyes and left the station. January 3, 2030. 06:30. Location: The Everfree Forest The second I left the station the cool crisp morning air of the forest assaulted my face. It was so much better than the polluted city air I was used to. As I stated walking I saw my favorite little zebra neighbor. She was doing the meditation thing on the stick. “Hey Zecora!” I said, a little louder than needed. Surprisingly she didn’t lose her focus. “Good morning Sam did you sleep well?” she responded happily. I moved up closer “Well, after the little confrontation last night I guess I did.” I said as she climbed off her stick. This caused her smile to strain. She looked at me and hugged me around my mid-section. This wasn’t as weird as it had been the first time so I hugged back without hesitation. “You know if you need to talk about it anymore you can talk to me or the princesses right?” she asked. I nodded in response and we released each other. “Maybe later, we’re running low on food so I need to go gather some.” I said, starting to walk off. “Wait, I will accompany you.” She said grabbing her stick. I shrugged and motioned for her to come on. She ran after me and we continued into the forest. “Thanks for coming along.” I said as we walked. “It was no trouble at all, I hand no other plan for today anyway.” She replied. We found some plants along the way and some small game, such as rabbits and squirrels. Zecora looked away as I captured them. I felt bad, but what can you do. We finished gathering about seven hours later. As we were heading back, I felt a lingering since of dread over me. I looked over to Zecora to see her rigid as the staff on her back. I snapped her out of it and looked around, only to see a pair of eyes…. Then another…. Then another. At this point I had my sword out yelling at whatever it is to come out. The thing that came out was not what I had expected. It was a large quadruped with three heads. The head to the left of us was that of a tiger. The one in the middle was a snake, which was apparently the tail as well. The last and certainly least was a comically out of place goat. The body itself was in two parts. The one closest to us was that of the tiger, pointy bits and all. The back half was goat like in form. We stared down at each other for about fifteen seconds before it struck. As fast as a blink the chimera, I believe it was called, ran at me, claws extended. I blocked the blow with the flat of my blade, planning a counter-attack at the creature’s torso as the tail lunged at me. The screams that emitted from my throat was enough to snap Zecora out of the stupor she was in. She took her staff in her hoofs, taking a bipedal stance, which I found as odd as I could with snake venom in my shoulder. Zecora then got the thing’s attention, by way of breaking one of the goats horn off. The snake let go of my arm and I grabbed my straight dagger from my boot and slice the snake off the body. After replacing my dagger, I retrieved my sword from the ground, just in time to block another strike from a tiger claw. I look to check on me fighting companion only to see she has knocked out the goat. I looked back to the tiger only to see it going for my neck. I side steep and cut into the things neck. The whole body slumped. After I caught my breath I walked to the goat head and broke its neck. With the help of Zecora we got the thing back to the Atlas. Zander and Sasha meet us outside. Zecora kept the snake head, for reasons undenounced to me, then went back to her hut. Zander and Sasha took the corpse and other game to the back to ‘prepare’ the food. Me? I walked inside, ate dinner, took a shot of potion, and collapsed on my bed.
chapter 1January 1, 2030, 00:00 ship ID:663524 ship name: "Atlas" "Well this is just typical." I announce to myself as we were propelled through space. I had known when I took this job that I was going to miss a lot going on down there, but its much worse when it happens. My team and I were being sent to the moon to seek out any reason for the rise in heat that may be coming from outer space or the moon itself. It was getting so bad in places that they had to be evacuated, but the strangest thing was the fact that some of the places were normally cool or cold. Well anyway we just missed new years. I like to think that I could see the ball dropping from here but, I knew better. "Sam we all knew this was going happen when we got in to the program." Zander, retorting to my bitching. Right even he agrees. I glanced back at him with a deadpan expression and took in his features. He was fairly tall, about 6'10 with dark brown hair and light brown eyes and hair. "Don't you feel anything for missing one of the most important times of the year." I said with a bit of curiosity and slightly more bafflement. "Can you boys get in here and help with the navigation!" our engineer, Sasha, shouted from the front. Ahh the Atlas, a feat of human ingenuity that still had to be steered manually. "Sure thing babe! Sam you coming?" Zander asked me. "Na, I haven't hit me quota for avoiding social contact yet, I'll just stay here and stare longingly at the Earth if its all the same." I answered looking back to the window, but as I did I noticed something. There was land in Greenland that looked less green or white and more, well, bright for lack of a better word. "You sure, okay we'll call if we need you." Zander said walking away. "Yeah yeah, don't do anything I wouldn't do." I said half distractedly, looking at the patches. He nodded looking back with a half smirk. As he left I looked back to Greenland with a bad feeling in my stomach but decided to leave it as an assumption and longed further for my soft bed and TV. Oh the TV! As I looked I zoned out a bit thinking of many thinks like if I left the gas on or not. when I came out my trans I noticed the patches of light had engulfed half of the earth and was noticeable spreading. "Guys get in here now!" I yelled in fear. they ran in and saw what I was refereeing to. Their reactions are as follows; Sasha looked as though this did not compute in the slightest. Zander's reaction was, well unique, he curled up in fetal position and rolled around muttering incoherent bullshit. Me? I passed out but not before seeing a light brighter than anything I've ever seen, then darkness.
