Star Ocean: A New Frontier

Chapter Seven

Reconnasissance

Canterlot
Canterlot Castle

“So you’re suggesting that we place a bet on seeing who will capture the alien child?” Luna asked as Celestia nodded.

“A secret beg. Just like we did five-hundred years ago when he came here. You remember how he ended up in a rather sticky situation, no?” Celestia asked while trying not to laugh.

“I….mistaken him as a new recruit and had him join the royal guards...in hindsight. It should’ve been obvious that he wasn’t a pegasus when his wings were that of a bird and not made out of magic like how every pegasi wings are.”

“Still can’t believe it took you a year to figure that out. It didn’t help that you were hitting on him and he was oblivious to that.” She said as Luna blushed and glared at her.

“Can we get back to the topic at hand!?” Luna asked while trying to compose herself from embarrassment. “So how shall this hunting game play out?”

“Like we did before. Only this time, I’m placing my bits on Twilight and her friends to get her.”

“Going with the elements of harmony this time huh? Alright, then I’ll place my bits on Shining Armor and The Royal Guards.”

“Lunar or Solar?”

“Both this time. We have a small platoon of Solar and Lunar guard ponies patrolling the town due to the raid from the dragon last month. Not to mention that the barrier is around the town, so she’ll have no place else to run or escape.”

“That’s what you said last time when he appeared in Canterlot. And yet he was able to escape.”

“This time it’s different! Now, are we going to do this or not!?” Luna asked as she made a hand out of magic appear in front of Celestia. The older dark skinned alicorn smirks as she shakes the hand made out of magic.

“Alright, you got a deal. May the best mare win.” She said before feeling her phone vibrate. Celestia reaches into her pocket to pull out her phone to see a message on it, which causes her to snort in amusement. “Looks like I’m in the lead for this bet. Shining Armor is currently being taken to the hospital for injuries done by the alien.” Luna blinked upon seeing this as she pulled out her own phone just as Celestia sent her the message she received. “So far he only suffered from a deep gash to his face, a broken leg, and a broken right eye socket.”

“....Is it too late to change my bet?”

“Yeah it’s too late to change the bet.” She said before summoning up a crystal white orb that had Nelsha flying through the air. “Now let’s watch and see how far she can go before getting caught.”

[Ponyville]
[Castle of Friendship]

“Twilight! We have a huge problem!” Spike yelled as he busted through the doors that led to the map room.

“Spike, how many times have I told you? I’m not your personal magic detector for when you lose your comic books.” Twilight said as the young dragon simply ran up to her and showed him a news report on his phone.

“No, that’s not it...this time. Shining Armor made contact with the girl and got his flank handed to him by her.” He said which caused everyone in the room to gasp in shock upon hearing this.

“But...how!? She’s just a kid. How can a donkey take him out like that?” Rainbow Dash asked as she floated over to Twilight to see what was on the phone.

“I don’t think she’s a donkey Rainbow Dash. Somepony was able to record part of the fight taking place. Mainly the part when she transformed her arm and sent Twilight’s brother flying into Sugarcube Corner.” He said as Twilight played the video, causing the girls to wince upon seeing him get punched in the face and sent flying.

“...So Pinkie Pie was right about the kid being an alien?” Rarity asked only to yelp upon hearing the sounds of a horn and confetti erupting from behind her as Pinkie Pie appeared behind her.

“I’m back!”

“Pinkie, where have you been?” Applejack asked as the party pony pulled out a large banner with Nelsha’s face on it.

“Well I was preparing a party for the alien over at Sugarcube Corner, but that got ruined due to Shining Armor flying in and crashing into the giant cake I had for Nelsha.”

“Wait you know the alien’s name?” Rainbow Dash asked as Pinkie nodded.

“Yeah, her name was on that weird gun looking thing. So I figure why not throw her a big surprise party to welcome her to planet Equis!”

“Pinkie, now’s not the time to-”

“Actually, that might work.” Twilight said as she interrupted Rainbow Dash’s sentence.

“Wait, you want to throw the alien a surprise?” Starlight asked as Twilight shook her head.

“No, I was more thinking of luring her out with food. What do all kids love to eat?” She asked which caused everyone to look at each other, thinking that they might know the answer but would be wrong. “Sweet stuff, like cake.”

“So you want to set a trap for the alien with cake?” Fluttershy asked as Twilight nodded.

“With all the running Nelsha’s been doing due to my brother and some of the guards in town, she must be hungry by now. So why not lure her out with a cake laced with a sleeping potion.”

“But how do we know that she’ll even eat it? She might now be like how we are and could be a meat eater.” Starlight asked as it caused Twilight to think for a moment.

“Starlight’s right. From what we notice, she does have fangs and claws like a cat.” Applejack added.

“Hm, Fluttershy. How much fish do you have for when you have to feed your bear friend?”

“Tons. I always make sure to keep some in my refrigerator so that he has enough to eat for when he has to go into hibernation.” Fluttershy answered as Twilight looked over at Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie, you remember that cake made out of fish that you made to celebrate the bear’s birthday?” She asked as the party pony nodded. “Think you can make that again?”

“Already got that taken care of.” She said before reaching into her hair to pull out said cake. “I made a second one just in case something like this would happen, or in case I forget the bear’s birthday and I forgot to bake him a cake in time.”

“....Okay how is she able to do that?” Starlight asked as everyone minus Pinkie Pie replied in union.

“It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.”

“Um...okay then.” Starlight said before looking over at Twilight. “S-So where are we going to set the trap?”

“Well if I was in her shoes, then I would be off near the vacant house off to the west side of town. We’ll set off a trail of fish for her to eat, then when she sees the cake she’ll end up eating it and pass out.”

“Um, not to interrupt your planning girls. But why don’t you, oh I don’t know. Just try to go talk to her and not try to freak her out?” Spike asked which caused everyone in the room to look over at Twilight.

“I mean, Spike does have a point. I mean for all we know, she might be scared of us more than we are of her

“Spike, you saw what she did to our brother right? Not to mention what she did to Applejack and Starlight at the hospital and what happened in front of the castle. We can’t take the risk of her using those weapons and accidentally kill somepony that might come across her.”

“For all we know, she might’ve been sent here by an evil alien army just to invade us.” Rainbow Dash said as Pinkie Pie gasp.

“It’ll be just like war of the worlds! Only with an army of aliens like her!” She said which caused Spike & Starlight to deadpan.

“Look, once we take away her weapons we’ll have a nice civilise talk with each other. Right now we need to be sure she doesn’t cause trouble for anypony else.”

“Fine, but all I will say is that I told you so when this plan of yours goes south.” He said before walking out of the room. “If you need me, I’ll be heading to the kitchen to make something for your return.”

“Okay girls, we should head out now before night falls. It’ll be much harder for us to find her seeing how she’ll use the cover of night to stay hidden.” Twilight said as the girls nodded in agreement.

[Ponyville]
[Streets of Ponyville]

Nelsha lands a few feet in front of a large vacant house that she could guess was new as she looks around to see if anyone was following her. She soon let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the coast was cleared as she staggered over into a nearby bush, took off the armor plate, and lifted her shirt to see a purple bruise on her abdomen area.

“Dammit, that jerk really did a number on me even with the armor on.” She said as her hand glowed green as she cast healing on the area she was injured. “Vi, how are the repairs going on my translator?”

“75% repaired. They’ll be able to understand what you’re saying now, but it will take some time to translate any other language that isn’t english.”

“Well lets just hope we don’t run into someone that doesn’t speak english.” She said before looking at the house she landed at. “Think this place will do for a safe house?”

“Give me a second.” Vi said before pulling up a small screen in front of the lesser fellpool with a model of the house. “So far no one hasn’t claimed this house. Nor do I see anyone claiming it anytime soon.”

“Perfect, then I can set up my bae of operation here instead of the forest.”

“Wouldn’t it be wise to make it outside of this town?”

“It’s not like I can leave this place. Not to mention the forest is out of the question seeing how that crazy bug woman is there. And I prefer to keep the sewer option for last if my safe house is compromised.”

“Fair point.” He said as Nelsha quickly walked over to the front door and started jimmying the lock with her claw. In a matter of seconds, the door opened up as she quickly headed inside and closed the door behind herself.

“Wow, looks like I hit the jackpot with this.” She said before examining the inside of the house. “Vi, are you able to send me the safe house cube?”

“Already on it.” He said as a blue cube appeared in front of the lesser fellpool as she grabbed it. “An update. During my scans of this planet’s internet, I have discovered a lot about this planet.”

“Really? Like what?” Nelsha asked as she pressed a few buttons on the small cube before placing it on the floor. Upon doing that, the cube sank into the floor as blue circuit lines appeared around the room, furniture, and appliances as they quickly changed their appearances in second.

“This world is very similar to the planet earth back in the year 20XX with a mix of magic and technology. We are currently in the country of Equestria, home to the largest population of humanoid-horse people. Or ponies as they’re called themselves on this planet called Equis.” Vi said as Nelsha took a seat on the couch while taking off her boots, weapons, and armor as she sighs in comfort. “The current ponies that are in charge of this country are named Princess Celestia, ruler/princess of the sun. Princess Luna, princess of the moon. Princess Cadence. ruler of the Crystal Empire and princess of love. And the newest princess added to the list. Princess Twilight Sparkle, princess of Friendship, wielder of the element of magic, leader of the elements of harmony, and the girl you pretty much ran away from.” He said before showing her an image of the four princesses.

“...Well shit. I get the feeling that I’m going to get in trouble later on.”

“That would be if they catch you. There are four types of ponies. Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, and Alicorn.” He said before showing her an image of the four different types of humanoid ponies. “To tell them apart from each other, Pegasi can make wings out of magic appear on their backs. Unicorns can materialize their horns when they are about to use their magic. Alicorns are the same like unicorns and pegasi when using magic or flying. Earth Ponies...well they’re an odd buch. Originally, earth ponies can’t use magic of any kind. But 500 years later, they along with a few groups of pegasi could perform magic thanks to magical rune markings placed on their bodies. To tell when an earth pony is using magic is when you see magical lines appear on their body. It should be noted that even though some of them can’t perform magic, they still have the rune symbols on their bodies that can be activated.”

“Hm, having a body to be able to support and perform Symbology. The science nerds back home would have a field day upon learning that there are possible new recruits that can perform Symbology. What are the methods and activation of these runes?”

“The runes are placed through a ritual called “The Coming of Age” as they say. Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence are the ones in charge of the ritual. By using stones and a book of unknown origin, and perform a magical surgery by placing the magical energy from the stones and into the host’s body. Then place the runes on their body. The process is pain due to how it’s literally using a laser to implant the runes underneath the skin….a very poor job at that if I’m being honest.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well it’s mainly because from what I looked up, they screwed up on the procedure. Mainly because the runes they’re picking are incomplete. Hence why some of the pegasi and earth ponies can and can’t use magic.”

“I guess that would make sense. So basically if they were to get it right with the assistance of the tools Kronos has.”

“Then they’ll be able to perform Symbology like you can. You might be able to test that theory out if you can get one and finish up the work where the princesses failed.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that when I’m not being hunted down by The My Morphing Pastel Power Rangers.”

“Interesting fact, that’s an actual show on this planet.”

“Wait, seriously?” Nelsha asked as Vi showed her an image of a humanoid pony version of the power rangers. “Huh, I’ll have to look into that later. Anyway what about the barrier around this town?”

“The barriers are due to the fact that Equestria is currently at war with another country called the Dragon Nation.” He said before showing an image of a humanoid with dragon-like features.

“Huh, while the ponies of Equestria have a knightish theme for their soldiers, the dragons have a vikingish theme going for them. Then again, dragons do have scales on their body that protect them from magic and certain physical attacks. What other countries are there on this planet?”

“We have the Equestria or Pony Nation, Dragon Nation, Kirin Nation, Griffon Nation, Yak Nation, Changeling Nation, and Hippogriff Nation.” Vi answered as he showed an image of what each one of the nation’s inhabitants look like. Though she soon focuses her attention on the two different Changelings off side by side of each other.

“Wait, why are there two different changelings there?”

“From what I looked up, there are factions within the changeling nation. Ones that are willing to share their love with others, and ones that are not. The ones that we encountered in the forest are the ones that were on the side that weren’t willing to share love with others.”

“Okay, that makes sense. Can you look up as to why the ponies and dragons are at war with each other?” Nelsha asked as Vi showed a news article of a humanoid pony slapping a humanoid dragon on the face.

“Apparently it’s because of some rich pony slapping the face of the daughter of the dragon king. Thanks to that, it sparked a war between the two...and it’s not looking so well for the ponies.” Vi said before showing the anatomy of a humanoid dragon. “The dragons have a high resistance to magic and weapons based on magic. And seeing how this country relies on magic for almost everything.”

“They’re pretty much losing the war because they don’t have the means to win this.”

“Correct, it also doesn’t help that they don’t have any allies from the other nations to assist them. They’re on their own.”

“...This simply won’t do.”

“What do you mean?”

“So far by every logic, this planet will be the perfect place to form a partnership with. Especially seeing how the ponies can make a barrier like this around the town. That shows they can learn and adapt.”

“You’re suggesting that we help them out with this?” Vi asked as Nelsha headed into the kitchen.

“Well we do have a ship that can strike from space, no? So why not use that to assist them from space?”

“Well...you do have a point. But we would have to talk to the rulers of this country before doing that. We wouldn’t want them to think you’re a threat or anything.”

“Fair enough...But we’ll have to figure out how to get out of here.” She said as she opens the refrigerator as she deadpans upon seeing that it was empty. “Think you can teleport some food down here?”

“I would, but the barrier is causing problems for organic materials to be teleported down to where you are.”

“Yet you have no problem with sending tech down here?”

“Inorganic matter isn’t a problem seeing as I don’t have to worry about their molecular structure changing into some godly abomination. Need I remind you about what happened to that jerk of a partner they assigned you with?” Vi said as it caused Nelsha to shiver at the memory.

“Don’t remind me. I told that cocky idiot to follow protocol. But no, he ended up not waiting for maintenance to finish calibrating the teleporter for two and he ended up becoming a giant blob with his organs outside of his body. But I see what you mean.” She said before closing the door to the refrigerator. “Scan around this town and see if this place has meat of any kind.”

“Scanning…Found a place that has meat for you to eat...but it might be risky.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“....Hope you’re up for going back to school, because that’s where you’re going for your meat.”