Star Ocean: A New Frontier

Chapter Eight

Contact with Inhabitants

[Ponyville]
[Ponyville School of Magic and Friendship]

The school bell rang as students from the school of magic and friendship began to exit to either head back to their homes in ponyville, or made their way to certain areas around the school due to clubs or after school sports activities. Just as the last few students left the school, Nelsha quickly climbed up the side wall of the school before reaching the rooftop of it. She began scanning the area for a moment before noticing a vent leading into the school.

“Deja Vu all over again. Only this time I’m not in a hospital.” She said before walking over to the vent. Once there she pulled out her sword and carefully used it to cut the hatch open like a knife cutting through butter. Just as she finished, the hatch fell onto the floor of the roof as she quickly crawled inside of the vent and began making her way through the ventilation system of the school. “I can’t believe you’re having me go into a school to get what I need for food...wait, how come this place has meat?”

“The school has a foreign exchange program that it was going to continue, but due to war that’s taking place they can’t really send them back without the dragons shooting their ships and aircrafts down with hellfire.”

“Makes sense when you think about it. Don’t want the other nations to unleash hell upon you like the dragons are doing. Hey, I’m heading into the right direction right?”

“Yes, just make a left turn and you’ll be right above the room where they keep the meat for the griffon, hippogriff, and dragon.” Vi said as Nelsha did as instructed. Upon seeing the hatch, she slowly pulls at it and places it off to the side before jumping down into the giant refrigerator.

“Jackpot. This will last me for a good couple of days if I can make sure they don’t notice some of their meat missing. Vi, send me a storage unit so I can put this stuff inside it and carry it home.” She said as a small orb appeared in her hand. Once she had it, she began to look around and picked out meat that she could eat while occasionally taking bites out of the meat she picked and put into the storage unit. “Mhm~! Sweet merciful god this tastes good! I haven’t had something this good since the time Katarina offered to give me meat each time I go an A plus on my exams when I was still in boot camp with the Kronos Military.”

“From what I can pick up from scanning this along with the information I was able to gather from this school upon entering, this is meat from a beast called a Manticore.”

“The hell’s a manticore?” She asked as the AI pulled up a digital screen to show her what one looks like. “...Wow. Who pissed off god to make that thing?”

“Don’t know, but that’s where the meat is from. So far they would have to clean the poison off the meat by letting it soak in antidote before serving it. What with manticores being poisonous and all. But you can eat it with no problem.”

“Hm, I might be able to use that poison for some of my weapons. But for now I’ll just focus on getting the food supply.” She said before finishing up while munching on a piece she was eating as she was making her way out of the room and into what she could guess was the kitchen connected to the cafeteria. “Guess this must be the kitchen. And seeing how this is the kitchen of the school, the cafeteria would be over in front of me.” The lesser fellpool crouch down onto the floor to scan the area. Upon doing that, she would see a mixed group of humanoid ponies, dragon, yak, griffon, dragon, and a bright color changeling.

“It would appear that you found the foriegn exchange students I mention...and also the two girls that you saved from the pack of dogs.” He said as Nelsha peeked through the small window of the door connecting to the kitchen to watch their conversation.

“Alright, we all know why we’re here right?” Diamond Tiara asked as the group shrugged or shook their heads.

“You just sent us a message saying to meet you in the cafeteria after school.” Smolder said as she folded her arms. “So why did you call us here again?”

“I found a solution to our problem dealing with that queen of bitches.”

“You mean Flurry Heart? You do know that no one in this school can beat her right. We even tried to fight her eleven on one and we still got our asses handed to us.” Scootaloo said as he jerks a thumb at Button Mash. “Poor Button Mash still got burn marks on his ass from her using Smolder as a flamethrower.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt...but it’s embarrassing to have others see it.” Button Mash said as he lowered his head in shame and embarrassment.

“Look the reason we couldn’t beat her was because we don’t have a trainer to train us. But I know someone that can help us in training so we can beat that stuck up jerk of a princess.”

“And who would that be?” Gallus asked. “What? You got your parents to hire a trainer for us?”

“Nope, we’re going to get the alien to help us.” Diamond Tiara said as the group stared at her as if she was crazy. “What?”

“.....Did you fall on your head or something?” Sweetie Belle asked which caused Diamond to glare at her. “You do know that she’s a wanted criminal, right?”

“Not to mention what she did to my sister and her friends?” Apple Bloom added. “For all we know, the royal guards might’ve caught her by now.”

“Did you not see the video posted a few hours about how he mopped the floor of Prince Shining Armor? He’s in the hospital after being thrown through the walls of Sugarcube Corner.” Silver Spoon said which caused Diamond Tiara to show the apple farmer the video of the fight between Nelsha and Shining Armor. “We need someone like her to help us knock that high and mighty Princess off her throne of this school. Maybe then she’ll stop being a jerk towards others. Mainly us for what the dragons did to her father.”

“Which again, not my fault the dragons decided to attack Equestria. But no, they still blame me for something that I had nothing to do with.”

“Well it’s no surprise. A lot of the ponies in this school lost their families in the war between the ponies and dragons. So they’ll end up putting their frustration on someone that can’t fight back.” Gullas said which caused Smolder to sigh. “No offense or anything.”

“See this is another reason why we need to be up top in this school. Ponies might be willing to leave us alone. When we formed this club it was mainly because we have a lot in common.” Diamond Tiara said before standing on top of the table they were sitting at. “Each one of us are basically rejected among our respected classes in this society. We made a lot of progress on our own in this school. Apple Bloom with her growth potion that no one else has ever made before. And she’s an earth pony. Silver Spoon coming in first and winning the national spelling bee in Canterlot. Smolder, you came in first place in the battle tournament with Yona. Even when the other team was cheating.”

“Yona wasn’t going to lose to cheating ponies. It was worth being poisoned and in the hospital for a month.” The yak said with a triumphant grin on her face while Smolder rolled her eyes with a small smile forming on her face.

“See! Even Button Mash kicked the two bullies' asses and figured out how to activate his ability to use magic.” The light pink earth pony as it causes the brown colt to blush in embarrassment. “This alien might be the key in making us stronger. Once we figure out where she’s hiding, we’ll ask her for her help.” She said as Nelsha pulled herself away from the door.

“Seems like they’re the rejects of this school.” Vi said as Nelsha covered her head with the hood part of her outfit. “What are you doing?”

“I’m planning on helping them out. What does it look like?”

“...You do know that this is a bad idea. What makes you think they won’t turn you into the royal guards.”

“I’m pretty sure I can hold my own against the royal guards as you saw. Not to mention their captain in command is in the hospital. Besides, this could be a good opportunity to see if we can fix up the Symbology symbols on their bodies.”

“...I suppose...They don’t seem to be hostile...just be careful.”

“Oh please, since when have I ever been careful?”

“....No comment on that. Going back to repairing the translator.”

“Smartass.” Nelsha said before sneaking into the open area of the cafeteria while hiding underneath the tables.

“Nice speech and all. But how do you suppose we find this alien?” Silverstream asked as Nelsha slowly crept upon the hippogriff. “I mean it’s not like she’ll just appear behind me or something?”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Nelsha said as it caused the hippogriff to yelp in fear as she quickly flew behind Yona. The group themselves were taken by surprise upon seeing the lesser fellpool standing in front of them as she eyed the group up and down before looking at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “Hey, I remember you two. I saved you from that pack of wild dogs this morning.”

“Y-Your the alien from what’s been posted on the news?” Sweetie Belle asked as Yona tilted her head out of curiosity.

“Huh, Yona was kinda expected alien to be...well taller and more weird looking.” The yak said as Nelsha deadpanned at her.

“For the record, not all aliens look the same as you might imagine. Plus I’m only fifthteen so that might also be noted.”

“Wait, you’re fifthteen?” Scootaloo asked as the lesser fellpool nodded. “How the hay are you able to take down Shining Armor like that. Not even we could do that when he wanted to test some of the students here...wait you’re not here to try and take over Equestria are you?”

“Or worse, the entire world of Equis!?” SIlverstream added as Nelsha rolled her eyes.

“Okay that’s racist towards aliens...Granted some might do that, I don’t. I’m...well kinda stuck here on this planet until I can find a way back to the Kronos Military. Allow me to introduce myself.” She said before taking her hood off to reveal her face. “My name is Nelsha Atlus. I’m a soldier/seeker of the Kronos Military. Care to tell me who you all are?”

“U-Um, nice to meet you Nelsha. M-My name is-”

“Diamond Tiara.” Nelsha said, interrupting the earth pony as she looked at the others and called out their names in the order they’re sitting. “The others are named Silver Spoon, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Sandbar, Button Mash, Yona, Silverstream, and Ocellus.” She said which caught everyone off guard.

“How did you know our names?” Ocellus asked as the lesser fellpool pulled up a digital screen to show them their information.

“Vi pretty much helped me with getting the name from the school’s internet storage. He didn’t go into your personal information, just your names and what you look like. Not gonna lie, your security system is not that good when it comes to an AI hacking into it.”

“....Okay, I’m not gonna lie, but that’s pretty.” Button Mash said before an idea appeared into his head. “Hey, you think you can get that...Vi pony to change a few grades on my report card?” He asked which caused Sweetie Belle to slap him on the shoulder. “What? I’m just asking.”

“Forget what he said. He can change the grade himself by studying instead of playing video games constantly.” Sweetie Belle said before looking back at Nelsha. “You said you’re a soldier and seeker. I mean I can see the soldier part after seeing what you did with Shining Armor on the video that somepony posted online, but what does the seeker part mean?”

“What are you a star seeker that looks at stars or something?” Smolder asked as Nelsha shook her head.

“My job as a seeker is to explore unknown worlds and help determine if it's inhabitants can become allies with Kronos. So far from what I have gathered, this planet, well this country is added to the list of for Kronos to form an alliance with. Especially seeing how the ponies are smart enough to make barriers like this without the need of magic.”

“So, you’re not planning to take over the world?” Silverstream asked as the lesser fellpool rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“No, of course not. We’re a peacekeeping military that grows by forming alliances with other planets. In exchange for their help, Krono is willing to help them advance their world’s technology. That is if they’re up for it. We don’t force our tech onto the inhabitants and if they want to stay the way they are, then we let them and keep a ship near the planet in case someone tries to attack it. Though it might be difficult to do this in my case.”

“What makes you say that?” Sandbar asked.

“Long story short, got into a space fight with space pirates, ended up going through a wormhole, and ended up here. Lost in an unknown section of space with no means of telling where I am, nor can I get in contact with Kronos HQ or the battleship I was on during that time. So I’m pretty much stuck here for who knows how long.” She said before noticing worried expressions on their faces. Mainly due to the fact that she might be stuck here for a very long time. “But I’m sure someone will find me with the beacon I have set up on my ship. So here’s hoping for that.”

“...Wait, you’re pretty much our age, which is fifthteen years old...how can a military so advanced that they let someone like you join? Aren’t there like rules saying that you have to be an adult in order to join or something?” Gallus asked as Nelsha looked off to the side.

“There are a few rules, yes. But I’m an exception to that rule. Don’t ask me how I go in, because it’s classified information which I can’t say at this time.”

“Right...so what brings you here to our little hideout alien?”

“Not really a hideout if you go to school here. But if you must know, I overheard your conversation while raiding this place’s meat supply. So I figure I make contact with you all seeing how...well you’re about the same age I am, and because I’m pretty sure you all won’t turn me over the royal guard if I agree to assist you in helping you in getting stronger in this school.”

“Wait, you’re willing to help us out?” Scootaloo asked as she eyed the lesser fellpool suspiciously. “Wait, what’s the catch? I know that there has to be something in it for you or something.”

“Please don’t suck out our brains or probe us.” Silverstream said which caused Nelsha to walk over to her and bonk her on the head light causing the hippogriff to yelp and rub her head slightly.

“You keep doing that, I’ll bonk you on the head every time. As for what I want? Don’t really have anything I want. Well other than figuring out how to get around this barrier. Long story short, I can’t be teleported back onto my ship due to the barrier. I need a way around it so I can get back onto my ship.” Yona was about to say something, only for Diamond Tiara to cover her mouth.

“Before we give you the information, why just ask Vi to tell you about that? I mean you did have him look up information on us, so it shouldn’t be a problem right?”

“Vi’s already doing a lot. Managing the safe house, ship maintenance, and repairing my broken translator. I figure I do this by myself seeing how it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Hm….alright we’ll help you in this matter of yours. But before we can give you the information that you want, you need to help us with something.”

“And that would be?”

“Do you have a way to make us stronger?” Silver Spoon asked. “We aren’t really well liked around the school. Mainly because we hang out with Smolder or some other reason. I mean we know the teachers are okay with us being here. But when it comes to the other students...well.”

“They pretty much hate us and we want to be strong to where they’ll fear us and leave us alone.” Smolder added. “And we need you to help us get stronger. So before we help you, you give us something first so we can trust you. Because bare in mind, we don’t know anything about you other than you’re part of this space military thing.”

“....That’s fair.” Nelsha said as she turned around and motions for them to follow her. “Follow me to my safe house, and I’ll show you my fixing the runes on your bodies.”

“Wait how did you know about that?” Sandbar asked as the lesser fellpool stopped and looked over at him.

“You can thank Vi for that. He was able to look up and showed me how this world works for the most part. Now are you coming or what?” She asked before starting to head out of the cafeteria. The group look at each other with uncertain and worried expressions on their face as Diamond Tiara was the first to follow after Nelsha only to be stopped by Gallus.

“You can’t be serious in trusting her, right? For all we know, this might be a trap or something.”

“Even if that was the case, there’s eleven of us and one of her. I’m pretty sure we can take her down if she tries something. This is possibly the only chance we get. I’m taking it.” She said before going back to following the lesser fellpool. The group once again look at each other for a good few seconds before nodding in agreement and following after Nelsha and Diamond Tiara.