Farther Beneath the Planet of the Apes

by ISleepNow

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Crossover, Dark, Human, Science Fiction
Length: 3682

Can a Planet Long Endure Half Ape And Half PONY??

Some fun ideas for a Planet of the Apes / My Little Pony crossover story.

The premise revolves around the assumption that the Land of Equestria resides within the Hollow Earth.

However, this fact is concealed until the end of Chapter 1 to provide a twist ending for the first episode of the 2 parter.

Breakdown:
Lyra argues with The Apes, tries to exert a positive influence on some Feral Humans and then argues with some Mutants while forming a relationship with one human in particular who then promptly shoves her ass onto a spaceship and sends her out of their shitty world. Thereupon, she meets a Gentrified, Fancy Human who says, "Damn" and helps her dispose of a bomb designed to blow up everything. In the end, she doesn't end up accomplishing jack shit otherwise or influencing anyone. She also has to be rescued 3 times in the process so as to act as a real role model for women of all ages.

Final Evaluation:
Good as a character study of an unaccountably popular background pony and a restatement of the familiar premise of how great and terrible the human family really is. The New Yorker Review probably summed it up best:

Worth reading just to get to the 'Horsefucker After Credits Sequence' in any case..

Please note: This story will and is continuing to expand based upon my sporadic inspirations. There are still some really neat ideas that I haven't yet set down. Unfortunately, I know this is all very Fragmentary, but that's how the creative process goes so plz bear with me & hopefully you'll find the story as entertaining as I have (otherwise I wouldn't have bothered writing it down to begin with)

Comments & suggestions welcome

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2017-03-26 06:04:51 UTC

Chapter 1 Act 1 Pre Credits

Chapter 1 Act 1 Pre Credits

Fade in to field near Ponyvile.  Intro Music:  My Lit-tle Po-ny, Bla- Bla- Bla..

Shots of lazy, useless hayburners milling idyly about

Then, Suddenly..

Sounds of rushing, whirring noises begin to come from the sky.

Shots of ponies heads raising into frame, looking up into sky.

Camera cuts to shots of broken clouds.  We hear an increased roar as if a ship were in trouble and firing retros forward for braking, then rear thrusters forward for horizontal stabilization.  Ponies looking skyward until one raises and exclaims:

Pony:  There,

Pony 2: I see it!

Through the clouds a needle like ship with brief fins near the back descends.

Sound of a projectile's traversal &

Shot from pony perspective as it arcs over their heads.

Pony:  It's heading towards the lake..

The ponies rush over a small hill and down towards a lake as the ship descends splashing midway into the water and continues to the opposite shore and up onto an embankment.

Scene 2:

Interior of Twilight's Castle

Twilight is at a desk reading.   A pony enters.

Pony:  Princess Twilight,  it looks like the Cybertronians have returned..

Twilight (turning in surprise)  Is Optimus with them?

Pony:  I don't know..

They both leave

Scene 3

Back at the lake

Ponies are gathering around as 3 figures emerge from the craft.  By their outward appearance they appear metalically encased.

Twilight ascends the nearby rise and observes the situation.  She then begins to descend towards the craft.

Twilight:  Citizens of Cybertron, Proclaim Signify Your Allegiance:  Are You Autobot or Are You Decepticon?

The figures on the ship observe her and two then glance at each other.  One reaches for his neck.

Cut to a closeup of the figure as he activates a clasp and removes his helmet revealing a familiar profile:

Dr Milo:  eh.. I beg your pardon,  what is a 'Decepticon'?

er-er-er EEEEErur on the soundtrack and fade to opening credits

Chapter II Act 2 The Parable of the White Horse

Chapter II Act 2 The Parable of the White Horse

32nd Scroll, Verse 17 et seq

.. forcing the accursed beasts to flee even as the Ape did set upon them.

And when the White Horse beheld that which was the agent of their salvation she did proclaim.

As the parable is read, a muzzle is forced over Lyra's mouth and a bridle across her back.

So great is thy service on our behalf it is our devotion that shall be your reward.  For we shall be thy vehicle so our stride shall lengthen your own and our strength support you in your task.  For it is thyne Devine Insight the Creator has chosen to bestow upon thee so that His Words you doth spread to enlighten the world.

So we do pledge ourselves that our labors may serve thyne noble cause

Chapter II Act 3

Chapter II Act 3

Lyra is pushed into the back of a cart.

Zaius:  The Laws were created not just for us but for all.   They were created not just for our benefit but for yours and Horse-kind as well.  Without the words of the Law Giver there would be no society and No Civilization

Lyra:  (screaming)  HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT AFTER WHAT YOU'VE SEEN?

A gorilla slams the wooden door in her face cutting off her tirade.  Dr Zaius walks up to the door.  Her face stares back at him between iron bars.

Zaius:   Because they are the only thing that separate us from the level of the human.

Lyra:  Have you ever thought that we could help you?

Zaius:  You have..  and, you will continue to.  Just as the Laws have prescribed..

<--->

Lyra dreams of her youth on the outskirts of Ponyville and of her family, her grandmother.  In those days there was a field out behind where she lived.  On some nights she used to go out and see the strange lights.

On some nights she would wander out into the fields with her harp and perform and she would watch the lights dance and play.  

One night she played a song which she had never before heard.   Although it was the nature of the Heartstrings musical gift that allowed for spontaneous composition, this song, she knew, already had a name.  She didn't know what it was - she just played it.

Other times, she saw the light beings.  One was a small creature not much taller than her that walked on her hind legs.  Other times, she saw ones that just floated away.  Once she played for Bon Bon and everyone with them got to witness the lights coming out of the ground and drifting over the fields.  Strangely, it was only Lyra who was able to see spectres of their former human selves.  The other ponies professed to only seeing floating lights.  Everyone knew that they were probably spirits but only Lyra would insist that these souls belonged to a race of creatures from beyond their world.

Sometimes she dreampt of them in a world similar but different from her own.  Some speculated that those fields could be enchanted; others, said they were haunted..

Once she found a stone in a ravine.  It was flat and rounded at one end.  She showed it to her grandmother.   Her grandmother said that she'd seen one before and had once asked the lights about it.  They told her it was used to mark where  they left their dead..

Chapter II Act 5 Statue of Liberty Scene et seq.

Chapter II Act 5 Statue of Liberty Scene et seq.

Youtube Video

Lyra stepped forward slowly, carefully studying the face.

Lyra:  That's not supposed to be an ape is it?

Bright Eyes  merely stared up and back at her in silent ascent.

Lyra:  What happened?

Bright Eyes looked up at the statue and then back at Lyra.  Reaching beside him he brought his rifle up so that the barrel was pointing directly at his head..

Rifle:  'click'

<^^#$^^^%!%^@!$^$$$$$^@>

Youtube Video

Although damaged, the harp still produced fine tones from the remaining strings.  As Lyra played her sad melody lights began to emerge from the ground.  First a pair, then several, then what seemed to be hundreds of spirit lights emerged from the Earth.

Then the area around them began to change and the lights began to assume human form as they passed back and forth in the busy streets of Downtown New York.

As Lyra watched the spectres pass by in their variety and mass complexity of societal intricacies she finally realizes the true scope of the race she has been aware of only a small part since her childhood.   The magnitude and scope of their physical achievements

Lyra:  Our world is Yours isn't it?

turning to Bright Eyes

Lyra:  It's as if we just copied everything from you

Then finally, as the collective illusion that the mutants have projected melts away and is replaced by the devastation of the remains of the city in a moment of supreme melancholy Lyra comes to a final sad realization of the true magnitude of humanity's self destructive nature

,

Then everything stopped and they heard a sharp tone followed by a voice:

Mendez:  Sorry to end your tour so abruptly Ms Heartstrings, but if you might be so kind as to follow your companion, we would appreciate it if we could speak with you directly

Chapter II Act 6

Mendez:  Our apologies, we mean you no harm.

Albina:  Please forgive us.  We have been monitoring your presence with some interest since you arrived within the company of our sentinels

Lyra:  Your Sentinels?

Mendez:  I'm afraid some explanation is in order.   Although we chose not to interact directly with the current surface society we still require information as to the awareness and intentions of the apes with respect to us.

Caspay:  We found it difficult to gather information from most of our kind on the surface as too much damage has been done to their cerebral corteci.  However, with patience and though our telepathic ability we have been able to systematically screen out those with sufficient faculty to communicate with us and act as our advanced sensors as to all that goes on up above.

Albina:  Please understand,  we only wish to pursue our devotions in peace.  But, for our own protection, we Must know what is going on out there

Caspay:  And owing to their greater agility and resilience to the Sun's radiation, they make the best available agents for this purpose.

Lyra:  Is that why I was brought here?

Caspay:  We question Every-One who comes through here.  And your associates, we have sponsored with sustenance and from us, they have gained the sense of non-verbal communication with their peers.  From this, they have developed some sense of identity and community.

Mendez:  They realize that this sets them apart from their brethren on the surface.  It was hoped that they can act as guides for humanity on the surface.  That someday, they will re-establish human civilization above ground.

Lyra:  So that's your goal?

Mendez:  Well,  not entirely..  We are most curious as to your origins and your mastery of the ability to speak.

Caspay:  And how you acquired this,  skill

Lyra:  Well, I don't know if you're going to believe me or not.  I find it hard to believe myself actually, but..

She takes a few steps forward, then stops and sits.

Lyra:  As I best understand it, I come from the Center of Your World

Mendez:  If we might ask, how is it you came into the company of our associate?

Lyra:  He freed me from captivity.

Caspay:  From Ape City?

Lyra (hesitantly):  yes..

Albina (to Bright Eyes):  You were told Not to go there

Mendez:  Is there something that you aren't telling us?

Caspay:  We recommend that you answer our questions, or we will get the answers ourselves..

Lyra turns away only to see images of her freedom from captivity projected on one of the rocks that compose the walls around her.  The scene changes.  Images of the storming of Ape City are seen.  Lyra begins holding her head.  A closeup of Bright Eyes holding her chin..

Lyra:  STOP!

The images disappear.  The mutants turn their attention to Bright Eyes.

<*********************>

Lyra:  But that doesn't mean things always have to be this way.  Peace doesn't happen until both sides are willing to explore the opportunities

Caspay:  Or one side succeeds in destroying the other..

Mendez:  You wouldn't understand, but the violence you are observing is actually part of a larger pattern of conflict between competing strains within our family going back millions of years.

Mendez:  In the history of the advanced primate species such as ourselves.  There has never been a period of peaceful co-existence between two concurrent branches of the hominid family.

Caspay:  Austolopithicus, Neandertal, Cro-magnon..  each of our antecedents has acted to eliminate the competing strain when confronted with their presence.  Assimilation has been the only alternative practiced

Mendez:  Even the surface dwellers who have received our guidance and support have acted similarly when given the chance

Lyra:  That does not mean that it has to be that way.  The apes themselves have learned to tolerate variations in their family.  Between the Chimpanzees and the Orangutans..

Mendez:  That cohesion in their society is accomplished and best maintained by making our kind the scapegoat for all of their perceived evils

Albina:  Please don't be offended, but the simple fact is, no one in our world realistically sees the options opportunity for peace and survival in the same terms as you see them

Lyra:  But you could make a big difference if you wanted to.  Why don't you come out into the open and lead your kind on the surface?  With your knowledge and understanding you could create a new society that wouldn't make the same mistakes.

Caspay: What makes you think we have any intention or desire beyond observing those same laws that created our current society?

Albina:  Although our Devotion is to a peaceful society we also understand that our world is one in which war shall always exist and we must act accordingly if we wish to survive.

Mendez:  Even if we wanted to, our minds might be strong but we are physically no match for those who would seek to physically destroy us.  Without our secrecy, we are too vulnerable.

Albina:  Even the very face we show to others is just an illusion.  Our True faces we must hide from all but ourselves

Caspay:  ..and our God

<********>

Mendez (to Bright Eyes):  Go and do Not Return

Albina:  Go in peace, Lyra Heartstrings.  Our wishes that you find the harmony you seek

Chapter II Act 7 Finale

Chapter II Act 7 Finale

Gorilla Soldier:  What about the pony?

Captain Ursus:  Tell the good Doctor that she's been taken care of as well.

Cut to closeup as he turns to observe the remains of his work.

Ursus:  Never did like shooting horses anyway..

<$$**&&%%$$%%^^&&**&&^^%%$$%%^^&&**>

The spaceship continues down the hole with the grappling hooks still dangling from its tail section.  We again see the Congregation of Mutated Humans singing chords from their rendition of "all things bright and wonderful."

All creatures great and small..

All things wise and wonderful..

As the ship goes past the hole in the back of their underground cathedral one of the hooks catches onto the raised base of the bomb.  With cartoon swiftness it is carried into the hole after the spaceship.  Cut to closeup of Lyra's equally cartoonish reaction as she sees the ship's new attachment.

The good bomb made us all

Cut to tracking shot from the front.  The chords of the mutants hymn are still audible in the background as the ship propels forward with the nuclear bomb wavering back and forth behind it.

He gave us eyes to se-E wiith,

and lips that we might teell..

Lyra opens a hatch near one of the chains attached to the outside of the ship and grapples down to the attached bomb.  She tries kicking the bomb off the hook until she notices a sign underneath the bomb:

Nuclear weapon  --  No smoking

She retreats in alarm.  Then she comes back and gently pats the bomb where she was kicking it a moment earlier, then retreats again.

Lyra runs to the rear of the space ship and begins pounding on the door trying to open it.  Then, suddenly, the door opens throwing her back.

Emerging from the hibernation room which has been locked and unexplored until now  :P  emerges a figure in a white jumpsuit.  An American flag decal embossed on the left pocket of his white jumpsuit.

Taylor:  What the HELL is going on out here?

He looks through squinted eyes scratching his head, his teeth set in a customary clench.

Lyra:  Do you know how to pilot this ship?

Taylor;  You can talk?

Lyra tries to activate her magic again but her horn only lights up faintly

Lyra:  ..and not much else at the moment..  But enough that you should listen..  There's a bomb attached to the back of this ship and we need to get it off..

Taylor:  (sitting at the ship's controls, still waking up)  Where..  are we?

Lyra:  Right now I think we're half way to the center of my world.

<$$**&&%%$$%%^^&&**&&^^%%$$%%^^&&**>

The Icarus emerges from the hole in Upper Yakistan and ascends straight up towards center-space.

Taylor:  If we dislodge it now it will still blow up the planet, even this far from the surface.

Lyra's horn begins lighting up and her magic returns.

Lyra: Keep Going!   I think I know a place where we can release it.

The ship continues headed up past the inner moon towards the middle cosmosphere.

Taylor:  The ship's instruments are detecting a very strong magnetic field

Lyra:  I was told that it might be some kind of dimensional rupture or rift.  Get us as close as you think you can without getting us sucked in.

As the Icarus passes Lyra uses her magic to break the coupling and push the bomb in the direction of the central sphere.

<$$**&&%%$$%%^^&&**&&^^%%$$%%^^&&**>

The explosion of the bomb dislodges boulders and debris from the sides of the tunnel as the ship continues to waver its way down.

Cut back to the mutant chapel.  The sound of the explosion stops the choir and the force shakes the cathedral dislodging minor debris.  The Chaplain then observes:

Mutant Pastor:  Amen

<$$**&&%%$$%%^^&&**&&^^%%$$%%^^&&**>

Taylor:  I'd still like to know how I wound up here..

Cut to closeup of one of the control switches on the ship's dashboard clearly labelled for modes of flight.  The top two are marked 'Manual' and 'Autopilot'.  The switch is flipped to the Third setting:  'Round Trip'.

Taylor:  "DAMN!!     I allways do that.."

Rainbow Dash laughs, making a dismissive gesture at him with one of her hooves..

Dash:  Ah' eh-heh, tssh.  That is Soo Amateur..

*Please see horrible, awful & completely degenerate Author's Note regards this part of the story  :(

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Lyra:  One pony can change the world, but only if that world is willing to listen

Fade to a bedroom in ape city.  A young girl is writing, " and the green horse said, 'We are all born to be free.  No one can own another's thoughts or'.."    A hand comes in from the left and swipes the scroll up.  It is her father.  He paces as he reads.

Father:  Have you seen this dear?

He exclaims to an ape standing offscreen,

Father:  This is heresy, Heresy!

at  the girl

Father:  Do you know what would happen if the council found out about this?

Father:  That's enough writing for You, Zyra.

Zyra:  But fathe..

Taking the papers away.

Father:  NO         Arguments..

The camera follows him stage left as he walks out of her room.

Father:  From now on, you stick to your animals..

We see a wall covered in animal cages.  Each cage contains one animal.  Each animal different.  Each container slightly bigger than the animal itself.  The camera closes in on them.

Then,

Cut to black.

Second - Lyra Heartstrings

The Heartstrings house where Lyra grew up was located on the edge of Ponyville behind which was a rolling meadow where she used to play and where the Ponyville Glassworks is now located.  Her early years were conditionally fortunate.  Many among her antecedents having been accomplished musicians, her parents were pleased to find her both able of mind as well as gifted in musical ability.  She found an innate ability to express her feelings in the strings that hummed to her touch early on and her friends would occasionally ask her to perform.

Silly pony.  When she performed  she would usually sit upright and stroke the strings with her front hooves like a biped.  This was a refined style, but it didn't stop there..  Friends and relatives began to notice a habit of assuming an attitude that could only be described as 'bipedal' more and more in her regular behaviour.  Some wondered if she was carrying her performance posture home with her.  Others speculated about whether she might be picking up tendencies from something others were unaware of that was said to lay out in the fields.

It was also in this world that she came to know her place relative to her most gifted peers:  second.  Although possessed of a creatively brilliant intellect she could never seem to rate as high in her studies as Twilight Sparkle or as accomplished in her performances as Octavia and from these she gained a sense of a perception of her as the perpetual runner up.

Never the singular gift sufficient to justify a cutie mark.  And when her cutie mark did appear, it was of her chosen instrument rather than general musical ability.

Never did her parents confidence and support in her waiver.

Never did she let her rivalries in ability affect her feelings toward her rivals as individuals.

She realized that she was fortunate to live in a time in a world of severe competition between such extraordinary individuals whose very existence could help to define and improve her as an individual although this might hinder her from receiving the recognition she might otherwise receive both as a prodigy, and a mare.

And she learned one more thing about not being the best.  The best way to overcome the limitations was Never charging at a limitation head on.       The best way, was through transcending the context in which her merits measured her the lesser and thereby overcoming the inherent limitations imposed upon her by it.

Lyra found this true very early on because the little world that Lyra grew up in was an extraordinary one indeed..

Chapter 1 Ideas

When the apes and ponies initially interact there seems nothing amiss.  However, at some point the senior orangutan holds private council with Princess Celestia.   During this meeting in which they give evidence of a totally unexpected familiarity with each other they discuss the mutual dependencies of their respective societies and the deliberate obfuscations upon which they are based.  During this conversation we learn the following:

Both the ape and Equine societies exist in the same world.  The apes inhabit the 'outer universe on the outside of the planet while the equines inhabit the 'inner cosmos' on the inside.

Both societies have replaced the earlier human civilization that ruled the Earth and the leaders of both societies know this and keep this information from their respective populations because of the legacy of self destruction that the human society left behind and the threat of repeating the same mistakes poses to each.

The fact that each society is separated by such great distance allows for their co-existence.

At this point, the matter of the escort chosen for them is brought up.  Lyra's curiosity in ape and other hominid societies is mentioned as a possible threat to the current stability of their societies based upon mutual controlled ignorance.

At this point it is suggested that she be appointed as 'embassador' and allowed to accompany them back to the surface world.  The apes will deal with her there, their way..

Chapter II Act 4

After the human attack on Ape City Zaius meets with the elder orangutans and with the heads of the gorilla military.

Lossus:  We are faced with the worst nightmare our society could ever face.  A renegade horse in alliance with a force of human monsters bent on the destruction of ape society.

Zaius:  We must call into service every force at our disposal.  This isn't War.  It is a battle for Civilization itself against the forces of ignorance and darkness.  It is nothing short of the service of creation itself that you serve.

Lossus:  Do you accept the bounty Captain?

Captain Ursus:  Rest assured, I will do my duty.

Ursus confronts his troops on the steps of the ape forum.  From his side he slides the sling of his rifle off of his shoulder and holds the weapon above his head.

Ursus:  Simians!   WHAT, is Your Profession?

The gorillas initially respond with enthusiastic grunts, then wild screeches.  Then they begin discharging their rifles randomly in eager anticipation..