Chapters “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” --Neil Armstrong
Earth, the blue marble, the home of humanity, and probably of every single living thing in the universe. Mid-21st century started with a massive economic downfall, causing wars around the world. Global warming increased, slowly converting the planet into a desert, just like mars. When there was no hope, NASA sent ten astronauts into the Trappist-1 planetary system, hoping to find a replacement for our home planet. The exoplanets of Trappist-1d, Trappist-1e, and Trappist-1f were all explored, with the discouraging messages of having dangerous conditions for life. Every single crew member died, their sacrifice made humanity reconsider their plans, and think about the generation we all had in the present.
In a coalition between NASA and the ASI, it was decided to secretly send a one-crewed spacecraft into the geostationary orbit, with the records of humanity plus an entire generation that could be the future “Adam and Eve.” The current generation of Earth will be most likely transported in starliners into other solar systems and return to Earth when the planetary conditions are reversed into good, but that’s another plan endorsed mainly by the megacorporations.
In this story, I was the chosen one to carry the weight. I was alone in this claustrophobic cabin, giving me free time to simply meditate and pray. Every time I turned to look at the blue marble, I cringed internally.
On these modern days, Earth has lost its ancient beauty. The Amazon jungles lost their green colours, being half yellow with small green dots. Like the Sahara desert you could say, but with more “life.”
Thanks to the amount of space debris and unused satellites, our planet developed its own artificial rings, but on the bright side a protective shield as well.
It’s ironic, the Hermes Mission wasn’t the first time we tried to find extraterrestrial life. Several missions into Alpha Centauri and Barnard's planetary systems were made, efforts placed into dead ideas. Maybe if the wars that raged in the 21st Century never happened the world could have been a different place, not the one where oxygen is slowly becoming a luxury.
“Over the rainbow they say.”
I chuckled at my own words. I have been awake for two weeks preparing for the ‘Sleep of Infinity.’ I knew the implications of this when I accepted the mission, losing everything in the present to settle something in the future of mankind and the universe.
“All right Intrepid we are going to proceed with the suspended animation. ”
“Copy that.”
My seat retracted, slowly putting me in a face-up position. The grinding of the machines gave the signal of a startup in the cryogenic pod. I sank into the floor of the capsule while a lamella metal covered me. I took one last breath and one last look at planet earth that will surely not be the same.
I stayed in several seconds of darkness surrounding me.
"Central x-57, beginning cryogenic process, initiating centralized H-55-nitrogen. "
Suddenly, the capsule was filled with white gas. My eyes became heavier as my body relaxed.
"Genesis Program is the future, see you in 50,000 years C-1899”
My eyes shot open and I breathed uncontrollably.
I heard several hissing sounds while the lamella metal retracted. Needles appeared on both sides of the pod, injecting chemicals to complete the resuscitation process. I felt so much pain that my words came out in gibberish, while the control over my body returned painfully.
I grabbed the grab bars in hesitance, my seat lifting in an automatic single motion.
First thing I did, was coughing harshly. My eyes narrowed thanks to the sunlight, they were obviously going to be sensitive after 50,000 years of being closed.
Speaking of which.
I turned to look at one screen, where the date of my coming and going were displayed.
Cryogenic Freezing began at 23:49, February 29, 2088 AD
Cryogenic Freezing ended at 23:48, February 28, ????? AD
I almost vomited, and my pupils dilated. My body felt numb, that horrible truth was torturing me from the inside. I prayed, hoping to forget my intentional dilemma, which is ironic how you accept something, even if you think that you are prepared to do it, but when that moment finally comes by anxiety attacks you like a hungry lion.
I cried, hoping that I could found inner peace with myself. They said it, no matter how hard you work mentally, you will feel the weight of an uncontrollable situation on your shoulders, but that is the reason why it takes the strongest minds to face the worst.
I looked up, my puffy, red eyes widening at the sight.
That is not the planet where I came from. It is Earth, but its beauty is different in every way. The continents and oceans are not the ones you got used to at school.
Tears poured out of my eyes again, but this time they were of pure happiness.
I felt it; I felt that inner beauty that someone has when watching a paradise. Clouds covered the continents and oceans in eternal splendour.
I took photos of the unknown land in front of me, and that's when the questions bombarded me.
Will humans still be down there?
What will life be like? Who makes it up?
Is there intelligent life here?
I shook my head and activated the other screens. There were still 7 active satellites around the earth, which have been amassing gigantic amounts of information about the planet. I analyzed the data about the embryos in the capsule and the one from Earth.
"Everything stable, changing atmospheric data and earthly conditions suggest that Earth lived through a second ice age ... interesting."
After ten minutes, I pressed several controls, making the Intrepid to steadily start rotating. The Earth's gravitational field pulled again it.
I raised an eyebrow in confusion, the polarity in the magnetic field was misaligned, but it wasn't negatively influencing the solar wind.
I shrugged, I didn't have the time or the resources to dwell on it; I was alone anyway.
The engines of the spaceship roared, and at every second the Intrepid was getting closer and closer to the planet. I deactivated the engines when I entered the exosphere, and after 1 hour at least, the atmospheric entrance began, causing the capsule to heat thanks to the aerodynamics.
I closed my eyes, and my jaw clenched, waiting for the splashdown. I deployed the parachutes, a void formed inside of my stomach. Intrepid made contact with the ocean.
I meditated, hoping for the capsule to quickly stabilise itself against the waves. I turned to look at the window... and saw how for the first time in my life, how the moon was reflected in an infinite ocean. If I am not wrong, 50,000 years ago I would have landed somewhere near Crete, near what used to be Greece. I retracted a notebook from the upper cabin, writing coordinates and other data that could be useful in the future.
I quickly took several things from the survival kit, including food, water, medicines, and a flare gun.
After activating the main oxygen tanks again, I operated some controls on the screens to activate the radio wave tracking system in case sapient beings inhabiting the Earth managed to read the signals. I turned and picked up the flare gun, hesitantly opening the hatch.
A hissing sound was heard, and the internal pressure stabilised. I took a deep breath, going out to what is “natural.”
The air smelled salty, and the wind was warm. The outside temperature was about 26 degrees Celsius, perfect weather for the moment.
Tears fell from my eyes, it wasn't noticeable, but I smiled internally. I raised the flare gun and pulled the trigger, shooting the flare that temporarily painted the starry skies of red with that powerful light.
I moved to the edge of the capsule, dipping my hand into the salty water while sprawling on the capsule's ladder. The water was lukewarm, tempting me to swim in this crystalline water. So much that with light as pale as the moon, the seabed was clear.
The icy breeze sent shivers down my spine. I shook my head and tried to forget my tormenting mental barriers. How you may ask? Well, by breathing slowly.
”Maybe I'm back in Kansas again.”
Upon re-entering the capsule, I looked at the embryo data again and apparently everything was stable. If I found no humans, a recolonisation might be workable.
At about midnight, I finally slept. I closed the hatch, never knowing the dangers of this new world.
Surely a beast rose thanks to evolution. I could be alone or accompanied, nothing was certain at the moment.
I was at peace even if it was, the waves rocked the capsule like a hammock, giving me time to simply relax.
---///---
I woke up at five in the morning and ate a very basic breakfast based on the small portions I had, not too much or little could be said, but it's better than nothing.
After several hours, I opened the hatch again, taking a deep breath in the clean air this planet offered for free.
I sat on top of the capsule, putting on a shemagh to protect myself from the sunlight, which was hellish I might add. That's something that worried me the most, the temperature was about 38 degrees Celsius. Another concern I had is how much time could the capsule survive. Many of the things inside of it were the seed for the future.
It was already three in the afternoon, waiting for a miracle to appear out of nowhere...... until my prayers finally bore fruit. I observed how a ship seemed to be approaching the Intrepid . My heart flipped over and I almost sent a cheer.
My scientific sense came alive, maybe humans evolved to resist contamination, or maybe, a starliner came way before my arrival.
Every time it got closer to me, I could see more details on the boat. I recognised it with a similar design to a galleon. The fine boat seemed colonial.
The smile plastered on my face disappeared. The crew was not human, but more like some feathery beasts that I could not recognise. My immediate reaction to this event was closing the Intrepid’s hatch with a digital lock, hoping to approach the crew peacefully.
The difference was enormous, almost frightening in my perspective.
Better than nothing.
I raised my arms. I noticed how their attention was already fixated on me, "Can you talk!"
I heard mumbles between them in response. They seemed to spoke with fear, and at the same time, as if they were being threatened.
For my horror, two creatures flew towards me. I stumbled almost speechless, my brain wasn’t processing what was happening right in front of me. The beasts shared a glance and raised their swords.
I was sweating, my heart was going a thousand per hour. I cleared my throat, "I come in peace... peace if you understand."
Internally, I knew they didn’t understand a word of what I was saying. Now my situation got terrible, not only was I alone, but I didn't have a weapon to defend myself.
A creature grabbed my right leg, lifting me while shouting something to its comrades. I was elevated for a few seconds, followed by a painful fall. I opened my eyes, and my pupils turned into pinpricks. Beasts surrounded me, also being accompanied by other animals with an equestrian nature in them.
They raised swords and spears against me while shouting gibberish.
One beast approached me carefully and touched my right shoulder. My first reaction was to get into a defensive position while standing up. It quickly retracted its claw, like if it just touched a wild animal.
I noticed details on their faces; they seemed to remind me of the eagles, but their bodies were all wrong..... a faint memory came back at me, for some reason, I think I saw something similar to these beasts in a book….
"I don't want to hurt anyone," I said in a calm, though forced voice.
They looked at each other with fear, I couldn't really blame them, now I know what's the feeling of being the alien.
“STAWAQUF EANTI DIMIKHALAQOUR TARTOHLAB!”
I completely froze, waiting for them to do something.
Suddenly, an equine with a ’horn’ was pushed in front of me. The creature seemed to be scared, sweat falling from its cheeks. Its coat is emerald green, its mane, if that's what you might call it, is brown with a yellow stripe down the middle. The ruby-red eyes expressed emotions, something that rocketed my attention.
That thing was trembling.
I raised my hands, trying to make myself harmless for everyone present.
"Nomíztaqid anaóti yuhawilatheí naakh mastash wifunafovísei!” someone in the crowd exclaimed hurriedly.
“Tiadha gínaw aplá yuhawilprospathe ehnai yakuni, den to wdwdana.”
Another one countered.
“lmyafealden échayu shayei kánei hataatípota, oúte kan gnorízoume ti eínai!”
“Asdaenato nahbósoumra méaa na ftásouasilse éna alminlimáni.”
The creature seemed to nod at the last statement. I raised an eyebrow, trying to comprehend what they were saying.
Someone pushed me from behind. I looked up, only to be returned with a fist to my face and stomach. I spat blood, coughing several times.
"W-w-what did I do!"
The creatures did not respond, it preferred to ignore me and retreated to its post. Suddenly, someone in the crowd threw chains next to the equestrian creature.
Immediately, my eyes searched a way out of this place. Seeing my distraction, one of them quickly put his wing over my neck, trying to hold me with all his might. I tried throwing fists back at them, but the grip was so strong that even my arms felt numb.
The creatures shouted. At that instant, the chains magically lifted, like if magic was controlling them.
"Wait, you don't understand with peace! STOP, STOP PLEASE !!"
It tied the chains around my right leg and my neck. A padlock appeared out of nowhere and secured the chains in unison.
The horse with the horn was crying while also being threatened with weapons. I couldn’t feel pity, my head was so dizzy that my ability to understand things disappeared for a few seconds.
"Sons of a-"
My suit felt wet. Looking at my abdomen, a bloodstain was forming.
"Damnit-"
I choked hoarsely. I was being carried to the bottom of the ship. If I lost everything, I don't know what will happen to the Intrepid , I don't know what will happen at this point, but my death is more than clear.
The heat and humidity are horrible, besides being constantly threatened by weapons.
”Okay....maybe I'm not in Kansas anymore.”
They threw me into a cell, I was blinking owlishly. One eagle sat me down forcibly, sending a fist directly to my face.
My vision went stars, and I blacked out.
"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." --John F. Kennedy
I woke up when someone threw water on my face. Breathing and coughing, I cleaned my face with my hands.
I looked around wearily, my instincts slowly kicking in as I got up. The place looked like a colonial-style cell of a 17th-century ship. The only light that it had was the moonlight, which palely entered through a hole with bars on one wall. My memory finally caught up with my confusion, past events coming back to my head.
"Where, why, what's going on!"
I waited for an answer with no response. My body jerked full awake when I anxiously looked for something in my pockets, which thanks to my luck, I found.
I sighed and turned on the FPP (Flux Personal Processor), a device created by the ASI to keep track of the Intrepid's cargo. It also contains other functions like satellite tracking services, an electromagnetic radiation detector, the status of my vitals, and basic entertainment.
"What is this... no, not this time, WHY TO ME!"
I kicked the wall, my mind going nuts as I jerked away from that compartment. The natives of this planet trapped me, and worst of all, I can't communicate with them. The unexpected sound of something metallic hitting the ground made me turn around quickly, and my frown deepened.
Suddenly, my eyes widened as I tensed.
An equine with one horn was practically glued to the wall, wavering and trembling. It was covering its head with its forelegs as if someone was about to attack it.
It seemed to be afraid, afraid of something or someone. I looked around and realised that I was alone, alone with this thing.
Which means it fears me.
I sighed and walked towards the bars that were separating us. It seemed so helpless.... but I wasn't sure of that, anyway.
Either way, I couldn't have it as an enemy, I had to make positive first contact.
I took a deep breath, leaving my concerns in the back of my mind.
"Please don't be afraid of me."
I said those words in the softest voice I could use. The poor thing was still shaking in fear. My heart sank when I heard sobs.
"Hey-look please, listen to me, I'm not going to hurt you, please, I'm incarcerated anyway, I can't go out, please...."
It stopped sobbing and looked up, her ruby-red eyes connecting with my light brown ones.
They were puffy and red, expressing fear.
"That's right, don't be afraid please."
The creature slowly lowered its forelegs, appearing to be hyperventilating. It was still shaking but at least it seemed calmer.
"That..... yeah, well, I just want to talk..."
It whimpered, beginning to move away from the wall.
"Indi thataqta skotalaniis?"
My first reaction was to be silent. The voice seemed feminine, smooth and almost musical. I have no way to know its gender, but I am going to leave it temporarily as a female, only for future reference.
I gulped and tried to show an apologetic face.
"Great, great, I'm not going to hurt you, I just… want to communicate."
I finished those words with an expression of ‘speaking’ with my hands.
She flinched, and for a second I thought that I lost her.
"Indi nturida miduthlíaltaha?"
She also made an expression with her hoof. I nodded rapidly at her words.
"Miduthlíaltaha, miduthlíaltaha," repeating the same expression, I tried to pronounce the same words.
"Nsi, hafdhaa miduthlíaltaha, salthalite indi mhaduthil," she replied firmly, fear dripping off her voice. A small smile appeared on her muzzle, sneering at the small step of confidence.
"Yes! Communicating, miduthlíaltaha."
She was silent for a few seconds until she took another step, staying still. I waited until she ceased whispering and babbling under her breath.
"Eben ana Crystal Rose," she said, pointing to herself.
I was silent for a few seconds, trying to decipher what she was telling to me.
Is she referring to her species or her name?
I went with the name. Maybe it's just a dumb conclusion, but I supposed now I had to give mine. I couldn't give my official name.......
So I quickly made one up.
"I am.... David de la Santa."
She smiled softly, "D---aaaa---vvid."
"Yeah David," I responded happily.
She moved closer to the cell, and with caution touched one bar, waiting for my reaction.
I stood still, making myself look harmless.
Much to my surprise, the curious creature giggled.
"Dha akti indi Daa-vid?"
She said while pointing at me. I immediately understood what she was referring to.
"Human."
It tilted its head in confusion, "hooman?"
"Yeah, human," I paused, trying to get in a more comfortable position, "and what are you Cry-stal R-o-s-e."
She backed off a bit, "martem."
"Martem, you are a-a m-m-martem."
"Nsi, eben ana bir martem," she responded.
Silence returned. I clenched my fists and quivered a it, trying to find a way to continue the conversation. I find it necessary to know more about her species.
That's when an idea entered my head, I could use Vakoch's mathematical approach, maybe if I show basic mathematical and scientific concepts.
I turned around and picked up a sharp stone that was on the ground. She looked with curious eyes at my struggle to draw something on the wooden floor.
I started with two lines, each apart from the other one, and ended it with two close lines. I continued to make representations of sums from 1 to 10, hoping that she would eventually understand me.
About 20 minutes passed by until finally 'Crystal Rose' understood the meaning behind the lines. She seemed to be happy, nodding whenever adding the lines, confirming that they have a similar base in mathematics, and some concepts could be universal for everyone.
She unexpectedly stopped and looked up.
That confused me, I did not understand what had just happened, why did she suddenly got like this?
She shook her head and went to the back of the room. Fear overwhelmed me, thinking that she abandoned me because perhaps I offended her or worse.
She turned a warm light on, as I could finally see this equine, that as far as I can remember, I think that I already saw her on the main deck.
Crystal Rose brought a lamp near the cell with her mouth, which she placed next to the bars.
She turned back again, bringing what appeared to be an old scroll.
I was quiet. She was sorting several things on the floor, and continued by extending the scroll, revealing a map.
My eyes widened, as the mapping looked like they did it in the 18th or 19th century.
Her horn glowed, and mysterious energy caused a planimeter to float.
The FPP made a small sound, drawing my attention. The electromagnetic radiation levels were at 400 V/m, something that seemed incredibly strange to me. Those were not normal levels, they seemed to be incredibly high for the 'norm.'
The equine caught my attention again while pointing to the map.
It was not exact, but it did look a lot likes the one of the Intrepid . The continents had changed, a peculiarity, considering that in only thousands of years the actual continents drifted apart.
"Apmin ynap indi?"
She was wondering where I came from. Her expressions made this much easier, I must say.
I thought about pointing the Americas, but that would not do much good. With limited communication, I couldn't explain to her anything about my mission.
An emptiness took a hold of me, the fear that the Intrepid would be lost in these waters. I sighed, she noticed my sad expression but refrained from saying anything.
I shook my head while deciding my options. I thought about it, I can show her I came from space, something that it's not entirely a lie.
"I came from a place called Europe, but for you, the stars," I said.
She was silent, tilting her head to the side and scoffing all at once.
"E-uuuuurooooppeeeee?" she repeated forcefully.
"No, the stars, up in the sky," I said amused.
"Stars?" she mumbled, slowly looking up at the ceiling with a confused expression.
I snapped my fingers, pointing to the hole where the heavenly beauty was being showcased, "yes the stars."
She sat on her haunches, her eyes softening as she put a hoof over her mouth.
"Aln astrons ....."
"Yeah, that, wait a second, the astrons?"
She didn’t reply, her cheeks were turning into an interesting blue colour. She breathed rapidly, almost choking I might add, "indi proyat min aln astrons ..."
"Yeah, I come from the astrons, the stars."
She turned around shocked, "indi ana ye exoabiun."
I was silent while she processed the information. I mentally prayed that she would believe all of it, dodging a bullet with those words will make me a giant favour.
Something that shocked me was that word, astrons. It correlates with Astro, which if I'm not wrong comes from the Greek language, meaning something that comes from the cosmos, be it the stars, a heavenly body, or outer space as a whole.
A connection is present, now I'm sure of that. She referred to the stars with that word, maybe her language came from the Greek somewhere.
I took out the FPP again; I had the idea of recording in total the conversations that I could eventually have with her, and then looking for a connection either to Latin, Greek, or Arabic, but those are the only guesses I can think of.
The system can translate languages known to humans, it will be very useful in the future. The pronunciation of the words are not rigid, as I described earlier, they are almost musical but forced at the same time. I can't tell which is a vowel or which is a consonant, but I can deduce the constant accents in various words pronounced by them. I think that is not defined by the position it occupies, but by the graphic form, these words take in correlation with their syllables.
Although another thing I have in my mind are the letters. The map contained several names, which I described as a combination of Latin and Arabic letters.
“Crystal Rose,” I called her attention, snapping her out of her trance.
I moved to the back of the cell and again pointed towards the stars. Perhaps if I find other words based on the cosmos, since a lot of modern vocabulary on that subject was based on either Latin or Greek.
"Nsi?"
I sighed, searching for a landmark that I could find.
I jerked, and snapped my fingers again, "the moon," approaching her with caution, I pointed at the sliver in the sky. She was looking at me with great curiosity, "the moon, ummmm Luna."
Her eyes widened, "Luna?"
I nodded, starting to record the audio.
"Klaw!" she clapped her hooves, "Rashadká, wadh exoabiuni alajanibn profane giarifun al Priayimissa Luna!"
"Yeah Luna, the moon, the moon."
"Aftoc eíntam magnumsha!"
Her excitement dissipated when she noticed the device in my hand. She tilted her head.
"Ti mahdhto?"
She pointed at the FPP curiously. I snickered while pulling it closer to the bars so that she could saw it too.
"It's called FPP, it's a scientific device."
She was watching it like a child in a candy store. I pressed a button on the right, making the screen go to the main menu.
I startled her, she shrieked a bit before calm
"Ohhhhhh."
An idea occurred to me, the perfect way for the first possible cultural exchange between our species. I paused the recording, going to the entertainment files available on the device.
"Here, I present to you a bit of human culture."
We get it on almost every night
When that moon is big and bright
It's a supernatural delight
Everybody was dancin 'in the moonlight
The sound startled her momentarily, making her ears to press against her head.
Slowly, she looked up again, smiled and relaxed. She closed her eyes; her tail swishing with the music.
"Ísrubam hdhaaf eaysi tújiddaan lalsydso Dav-i-d..... hooman."
I chuckled, hoping everything would work out.
"I am in problems this time, and the worst thing is that I'm alone."
Bone Dry Desert
"Your royal highnesses," a brown stallion with a yellow mane bowed at the presence of the two princesses, "it is a pleasure to have you here."
"The pleasure is ours, doctor," Celestia said with a small smile on her muzzle.
He nodded. They walked behind him while glancing at their surroundings.
"There was some sort of magical interruption in the magical field and apparently, the source came from this area," he said, pointing at a tall dune.
"A-a magical interruption?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow, "the last time one of those appeared was when Grogar..... invaded the frozen north."
He cleared his throat, "yeah.... but there is a curious difference, something completely independent of magic caused this interruption."
"W-what?!"
"That's right," the stallion sighed, "there is some non-magical device that interrupted the field and many ponies in my faculty got excited thinking that the possible theory of non-magic fields was confirmed, so they brought several mages to test this theory," he paused momentarily, "and none was confirmed, after all, this came out yesterday."
Reaching their destination, the princesses mouths fell wide open. Sand mostly covered the giant structure, but its ominous presence was still noticeable. It looked like a giant stone temple with a metallic door.
"In all of my years, I've seen nothing like this," Luna mumbled.
Several contraptions were buried under the sand, like if an entire city was buried at some point in the past.
"What's all of this?"
He looked back at the solar princess, "there were several conclusions made, but the most realistic that we could come up with was that this place in one way was a settlement created to inhibit magic in the times of Discord, or the other thing is that there is some complex mechanism near the mantle of Equus, and its energy is being concentrated nearby."
"What's that," Luna said while pointing at a concrete contraption.
He stopped, "we thought it was part of the first temple, but we believe that it's a monument."
"A monument?" Luna raised an eyebrow, "of what?"
"We don't know, we think it's depicting a creature, but it's really difficult to tell," in a flash, he made a folder appear, "the architects we brought said that it could depict a minotaur stretching its arms to the sides."
"At least we have somewhere to look for answers," Celestia said nonchalantly, "with luck the Minotaurian Kingdom could have in their archives some reference to an ancient settlement in this area."
He cleared his throat awkwardly, "yeah.... but this statue has an interesting property."
Celestia tilted her head, motioning for him to continue.
"You see, we found some iron reinforcing the monument, and of what we can tell, this entire area is at least a couple of thousand years old, meaning that-"
"The iron ore wasn't discovered until a couple of hundred years ago."
"Exactly, so we think that an ancient civilization of minotaurs could have created all of this by using some sort of amulet, which left a curse upon these lands at the same time."
"Tia," Luna turned to look at her sister, "what do you think it is."
"It looks apish to me," she said hesitantly.
"Could it be, you know," the doctor suggested with a frown.
Luna shook her head, and chuckled at the thought, "why would anyone make a statue depicting them."
He shrugged, "ancient cultures are a mystery, as they always have been."
"There are so many problems to solve on this planet first before we begin to trash other worlds. "--E.A. Bucchianeri
“No, try to pronounce á éntoni.”
“Á-Á-á like this?”
“Close, try to fall hatla rise famh.”
“Ǎ-ǎ-ǎ-ǎ this?”
She nodded happily, I sighed wearily. I am certain that at least two weeks have passed since I first arrived on the planet. Our conversations have greatly improved, and I am proud to say that I already understand certain phrases in their language, although I still have a lot to learn. Several of my doubts turned out to be correct, the language is linked especially with Greek, although it uses intonations in what seems to be a developed form of Arabic.
With the little I know, I would say that it’s a monosyllabic and fusional language with a moderate degree of inflexion. I suspect that it also has grammatical genders, as such, many words can be derived from the same root. Some tones are very difficult to pronounce, but I think this is thanks to the different anatomy between our two mouths and throats.
I have asked many questions, but the main one was about the location of the Intrepid . Unfortunately, she had no idea, since she supposedly was not able to leave this room since I arrived at this place. She also told me that the ship was heading to a land called 'Ippasía,' although it is difficult for me to pronounce it, it’s more or less translated into "Ekustria."
I also tried to learn more about her past, but she always ignored those questions, including the reason why she is a prisoner on this ship. Food has been very scarce, and there's almost no water for both of us, which made us interspersed between days in who eats more and who eats less.
God may answer my problems, because of these moments when I simply don't know what to do. Crystal Rose has comforted me several times when anxiety made me lose control of me, as I’ve tried to do actions that can harm me a lot.
"So, learning time over now," she quickly closed a scroll where the alphabet of her language, 'Ponish' was written.
"What- but if I."
"Nananananana," she interrupted excitedly, "I want you to keep talking to me about your world."
"I think you wanted to know more you would be helping more."
"I'm helping you," Crystal began nonchalantly, "it’s just that…. when does somepony has the opportunity to speak with beings from another planet."
I replied with an amused face, shifting my legs to a more comfortable position, "Okay, just this time now, I need to improve language."
"Yes yes yes whatever," she sat on her haunches and took out a small notebook with her 'magic', "you were telling me about Chia 10."
I paused, scrutinising the transparency in her energy. I wasn’t able to gain much information about this supposed 'magic.’ I named it this way not only because of its similarity but also because ironically she is a unicorn.
And unicorns in mythology were famous for using magic, and for being violent and untamed animals.
I shook my head, and let a smile appear, "Let me remind myself," I tapped my chin, "I already told you about lunar landing part right?"
She nodded slowly, "I think so."
Sighing, I retold the story, "then there was Jorge Murillo if you member’ him right?"
Nodding, she motioned for me to continue.
"Jorge Murillo was the first ... ehmm what is word?"
"Epivítlkhay."
"The first epivítlkhay to get off lander space, and said something 'one small step for men, one giant leap for mankind'"
She looked at me confused, "which means..."
"Emmm I don't think I know words in you language, but it a phrase that supposed evoke emmmm emotion in ancestors."
Her eyes lit up, she groused and looked up, "And did they meet Princess Luna?"
I jolted back, "Princess Luna, what that, an item or martem"
She giggled a bit, "a martem," her ears pinned against her head, and for some reason,she saddened, "so you don't know who Princess Luna is?"
"No, I-I don't know," I replied leisurely, "but you can tell me emmmm it is, you understand me right."
She smiled a little, "Sure, Princess Luna is," she paused for a second, thinking about what to say next, "Princess Luna is one of Ekustria's umm rulers with Princess Celestia."
"Princessa Celestia?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, "that's Latin if I'm not wrong."
"What is Latin?"
"One language but that not important," I moved closer to the bars, "tell me who these are?"
She giggled, "As I said, they rule Ekustria, and they have the task of moving the sun and the moon."
"Move sun and moon?" I did not understand much, but my curiosity made me push the issue further, "who has that job?"
"The Princesses, Princess Celestia moves the sun and Princess Luna moves the moon."
My smile fell a little. With this little information, I think it showed that these creatures still believe in pagan beliefs, like for an example, terrestrial beings that can control celestial objects.
I was going to point out she was wrong, but who am I to criticise their culture?
"Hey, can you go back to your planet?"
"What do mean?" try to change the question.
"I mean, well," she looked at me awkwardly, "can you go back to your planet right? Y-you won't be stuck here."
I lowered my head and blinked owlishly, "I'm on my planet.."
"What was that."
"Nothing," I answered quickly, "yes, I can return my planet, but I need to know if capsule safe, it is very important to me and my martems."
She smiled apologetically, "don't worry, I'm sure your ship was not left behind."
"And how can you be falísamanre of that?"
"Look, are these guys in no way going to leave a thing as radiant as emmm you say?"
"Capsule."
"Yes, ca-p-psule back."
I nodded ploddingly, "maybe you right, but suppose I Faith is the only thing helping me now."
"Mrhbana ilaaoioin milásdath!"
"Oh no," Crystal quickly stood up and hid the papers that we originally used to communicate. I moved to the other end of my cell while putting the FPP in one of my pockets.
The door blew open, followed by the entrance of a feathered beast which Crystal said, they call themselves gryphems, another word close to Latin.
This word means griffons in English if I’m not wrong, so I concluded these beasts are actual griffons or it’s just the name someone gave to them.
"Ti káadha kunt taneis!"
"I-I was just tahaloquar mafsina."
His frown deepened when his eyes fell on me, "We are edó, eínai dikieatiqik maswuwliatsas this ape."
He drew a sword and pointed it at me. At that moment I felt my life was about to end, my entire career ended here. I closed my eyes when the doors of my cage opened and waited for the impact...... which never came.
I opened one eye, meeting Crystal Rose who was looking at me sadly. She leaned closer to my ear, "we need to abadhh."
She gently pulled my chains, and I slowly stood up. She pointed to the door of the room, and hesitantly started walking with me following her from behind. I didn't have much of a choice anyway; I was being pulled like a dog on a collar.
The sun temporarily blinded me. I raised my hands to cover my eyes as they focused. The heat was hellish, even the cage was better than this, at least the temperature was colder.
The griffons were threatening me with their weapons, while one of them pushed me from behind. We made it to the main deck where a griffon Crystal Rose abruptly stopped and yelled at her.
"Hey what are you doing!" I shouted in my native language, and because of a wicked streak, my vocabulary was too crude to even answer something in their language.
Suddenly, her magic ceased around my chains. I tilted my head while looking at my surroundings. Crystal screamed in pain when a beast slapped her.
My fists clenched, and my gaze filled with hatred, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"
Without hesitation, I started running towards that animal that slapped Crystal. Just as I was about to lunge towards him, someone pulled my chains from behind, causing me to stumble on the ground.
I tried to move, but everything seemed in vain. They forced me to stand up again straight.
"You guys are going to pay for that! I promise!"
They pulled my chains forcibly and made me walk off the deck onto a small bridge that separated the harbour from the ship. I looked back and gave Crystal a last glance.
"I'll be back! You'll see! Just wait, I'll call all the starcruisers, an army, I'll do it!"
They pushed me again and made me get off the boat over the bridge. I jolted back a bit, my eyes widening, and adrenaline pushed itself throughout my blood when my eyes fell on the other thing that I needed to see at that moment.
"The Intrepid ...."
It found it tied by a rope behind the boat. The surface looked severely scratched. The flag of my country and the logo of the United Nations were barely visible on the metal surface.
I deduced they tried to open it using spears and swords. I chuckled a bit, the idiocy of them amusing me a lot.
With another push, I forcefully walked forwards. For a few seconds I was almost panting from the pain in my legs, they felt almost as if I lost them for a moment.
We entered what appeared to be a town. Creatures of all kinds were screaming from the entrances of various establishments and windows. The architecture is medieval, combined with aspects of the renaissance. We turned the corner and entered a jammed street, filled with beasts and animals alike. Every time they saw me they looked with contempt or curiosity, perhaps because I am the beast for them.
We reached a giant plaza. Vendors were yelling and advertising their wares, while several beings came up to offer us jewellery and other precious gems. The smell was terrible as if an animal had just rotted in that same place.
"What the," I stood still for a second, and started looking around me. I think I saw a human ...
Na…… my head had to be playing tricks on me.
The griffon yelled, making me move immediately. I glared at him and spat on the floor.
Thank God he didn't realise that because if they are going to do something bad to me, I hope I don't get to a state where I can't even tell the story for a future.
In front of me, a platform made of wood was located, where one of these, martems seemed to announce something. They pulled my chains again, a dizzy feeling crawled its way to my back as I struggled to breathe.
I stayed quiet while these griffons were discussing something with what appeared to be a winged horse.
I remembered something about this, there is also a representation in the mythology of horses with wings, I think they call them .... pegasi?
"I, damn," I coughed several times into my fist, as my throat was very parched, "Jesus please help me....."
"Shut up!"
A smile appeared on my sweaty face. I understood those words perfectly. So many times that Crystal Rose said it, I could define it without even asking her for the definition.
"Take him to alminasat alrayiysia!"
The pegasi shouted as the griffons handed him golden coins.
"Great, just what I need," I mumbled.
A unicorn approached me and pulled me with its magic. They were sneaking me ahead of the others in the line. I could see several creatures in it, mainly zebras and some bipedal animals that had the structure of a feline, all tied up by ropes.
What should I have even expected at that point, the world seemed to have been written by a fantasy author, it seemed too fictional to be real.
But reality is not constant, it was not my position, and I believed in it.
I got on the platform. I could see a crowd watching me curiously. They made me stand next to a unicorn. He looked at me in surprise, examining me slowly while poking me much to my annoyance.
He took a step back, and turned to the crowd, "here we eéchoume éna interesting lilaihtimam!"
I heard mumbles among the crowd, interrupted again by the unicorn, "sayakun lilaihtimam is eínai Sígoura a megalos helper and sklávos!"
"What?!"
The entire crowd fell abruptly silent, absolutely everyone staring at me startled. I shifted uncomfortably while clearing my throat.
The unicorn was the first to recover, as he slowly spoke again, "loipón ... échoume price in 200 bits."
"Somepony...."
Suddenly a hoof was raised, "I'll give you 150 bits."
"170 bits!"
"165!"
I coughed again as the usual sounds of this town rang out again.
"300! Bits" someone yelled from behind
"300 bits at one, at two, at three...." the unicorn paused for a second. I gulped when he stomped his hoof on the ground.
"Sold for 300 bits!"
With a push, I walked forward. Going down the stairs, a unicorn with a blue fur and a white mane was waiting for me next to a griffon.
"Efcharistoúme agorá purchase Miss Lulamoon."
"It's the great and powerful Trixie!"
I could only think of one thing, they just sold me for 300 coins?!
Great, I was just sold into slavery without even realizing it.
Author's Note
The broken English in David's dialogue is intentional.
Chapter 4
"They turned their desks into a trigonometric war room, poring over equations scrawling ideas on blackboards, evaluating their work, erasing it, starting over." -- Margot Lee Shetterly
"Over here."
I walked away while coughing bitterly. It drained my strengths, I couldn’t attempt an escape in that position.
"Need water-" I sputtered in my native language.
I tried using expressions and a few words for her to understand me, bad for me it was in vain.
"Don't worry, stay calm and everything will be fine! After all, you are next to the most powerful unicorn in Ekustria!"
"What-the damnit," I lowered my head in disgust and clenched my fists intending to stay awake.
Worst of all is the unpleasant feeling of sweat and blood inside my suit. Outside it was scratched and very dirty, the symbols on it were almost visible. For all this trip I have been trying to accommodate this better, I swear that if I would not die of thirst, it was going to be from an infection.
We arrived at what seemed to be the outskirts of this town where a purple wagon was behind an oak tree.
"Why do I have-cough -a bad feeling about this."
"Alright, we're here."
With a gentle pull, I headed towards the car with trepidation.
"Welcome to Trixie’s wagon lilaihtimam."
She opened a small door on the back, where a wooden flask was hanging from a coat rack.
I immediately leapt in and grabbed the flask.
"HEY, HOW YOU DARE TO PUSH THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!"
"STUPID ANIMAL! That was the best shwaih I-Trixie had there! Ughhh, why did Trixie offer to help......"
She quickly organized the little mess I left at the entrance and sent me daggers as she pointed inside of the wagon.
"Come on in, Trixie’s patience is not really on mood.....Celestia, please help me."
I coughed a few more times as I covered myself with an arm. When I lowered it, I noticed a small red spot on the white nylon surface.
"Blood-" my coughing interrupted my mumbled thoughts.
"Hey- are you feeling good," the unicorn approached me calmer and looked with concern, "Trixie is now talking to a lilaihtimam, it's official, I'm going crazy."
"I don't know- if that's crazy," I said wearily.
She stopped, and took three steps back while blinking quickly, "Trixie is hallucinating too?"
"What are you talking about?"
I turned around and raised an eyebrow, "now what."
The unicorn was shaking, and its pupils turned into pinpricks.
I passed my tied hands in front of her sight with a frown. I jerked back and stayed quiet while watching her. Could it be that this is normal in their biology? Crystal Rose did nothing like that since she met me.
At that moment I thought of escaping as she is in this state. Perhaps I would have escaped if I didn’t continue with the chains.
My suspicions pointed to the key in her cape, maybe it's disrespectful to lift it, I mean, they seemed to not have a concept of decency for a sapient species, but then again, it must be a cultural thing, and they are mini-horses, ponies .
Ponies, that fits right.
The unicorn started saying things under its breaths.
"This can't be real," she started as she analyzed me, "you can really talk!"
"I can speak very little you language, but I assume my language sound like, well, language."
"What-what, this can't be happening to me," her ears pressed against her head, "that-that didn't sound like a language."
"Than?"
"Yeah-yeah, you sounded like an animal," she pulled and sat on her haunches, “a lilaihtimam."
I facepalmed, "Can someone tell me they mean with lilaihtimam! Everybody been saying same word."
"Like an ape, uhhhhh I don't know how to explain it, that's what they told me," she paused and frowned, "no, I'm sure I'm imagining that you're talking to me."
I shook my head, "listen, I'm not an uhhh ape to begin, I'm human, if you don't believe can you please take chains off me!"
"Not an ape, a lilaihtimam!"
"Ju-just do it alright, take them off please, I'm not to...attack you or like that."
She bit her lower lip, "yeah-if you're real, then you're a demon from Tartarus!"
"A what of what?" I lowered my voice a bit as I knelt, "You can trust, just take off chains, and we both solve in civilized manner."
"How can I solve something with an animal!"
"I am not an animal of everyone on this planet! I should be one who loses control!"
She tilted her head, "what?"
"Damnit, just take chains off me."
She hesitantly got close and made a small, silver key to appear out of nowhere. She looked back into my eyes and sighed.
"You promise me that you won't... eat Trixie or something."
I deadpanned, "just do it!"
With her magic, he removed the padlock and the chains came loose. I took off the metal collar and the handcuffs on my own, beginning to stretch and yawn.
"Yes finally!" I raised my hands in victory, "well, thank you for putting price on life, but I to go."
"What hey!"
She ran ahead of me, and stood still, blocking my path, "why did you do that!"
"You let me out," I crossed my arms, "I get out of here now!"
"I don't understand," she stomped a hoof, "besides, you know that's the direction of the port right?"
"Ehhh," I jerked back a bit, "I didn't understand that very well."
She huffed, "You, you're going back to the port, the place where ughhh Trixie doesn't have to explain that!"
"Aha," I scratched my beard and knelt, "listen, there something important I left back, I to go back to town."
"I-" she stuttered, "no, we have to go now!"
"I think not if you move please!"
"No, besides what is so important that you want to return to that unpleasant port!"
"Mind your own business."
"It is Trixie's business," she ran ahead of me again, "listen I need to take you to somepony, and I don't think you want me to use my magic again."
"What are you-" my eyes widened and my fists clenched, "it was you right! You were making me feel -cough-cough - damn you!"
"Please, at least tell Trixie why do you want to go back ther-"
"No," I interrupted snappily, "you tell me where do you want me go and who do you me to see, I'm not animal!"
"You'd be surprised," she said under her breath, "Fine, but then you have to tell me why you want to come back."
I snorted, "fine for me."
She turned to look at her wagon and sighed, "You see, I have a debt that I have to pay to someone in............"
8 days ago….
A newspaper slammed a table. The lavender alicorn’s mane is dishevelled as she is trembling from excitement.
"Look at this!" she exclaimed, startling Starlight and Spike who were lazily eating their breakfasts.
Starlight had bags under her eyes, the last night was rather..... memorable to her-
-//-
“Wait what alicorn is? What Starlight or Spike is? And how you know that part if you weren’t ther-”
“Don’t interrupt Trixie while she is telling a flashback!”
-//-
Spike rubbed his eyes and lazily drifted towards the newspaper.
The Ponyville New Times
The geographical survey has released several documents drafting from some mysterious ruins in the south of the bone desert. The princesses Celestia and Luna publicly announced that they were going to bring to light all the data they had on these ruins made in the past. The perfection impressed scientists and magicians in the old ruins, and the amount of metal found among the stone that is believed to support structures like in modern buildings. An even more impressive piece of information was the discovery of a magic dead zone, an event that has not occurred since Equestria was first invaded. Princess Luna said privately that she believes this dead zone has a connection to the mysterious meteorite that fell a couple of days ago in the Celestial Ocean……….
"Aaaand...... is that supposed to be something good or bad?"
Spike blinked owlishly as he started drinking his coffee again.
"Good!" Twilight shouted again, "this," she pointed to the newspaper, "this changed history! Do you know the implications behind this, somepony built this mega construction using iron before it was discovered!....... or at least when we thought that they discovered it."
"Twilight," Starlight began, "why are you showing this to us?"
“Because,” she tapped her hoof on the table, “I need somepony to help me investigate this.”
“I’m out!” Spike and Starlight said in unison.
Twilight rolled her eyes, “I’m not talking about you, but about, you know…”
“I know what?”
“Trixie,” Twilight stated bluntly.
Starlight lowered her coffee and tilted her head, “are you going to ask Trixie to help you with something.”
“No-no,” she interrupted, “you are going to tell Trixie to help you with something, she is still being reformed after all and she is your friend.”
“Twilight, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Starlight said, “plus what do you want her to do, to sail across the ocean to look for a rock?”
“No,” Twilight brought a map with her magic, “I need her to go here.”
Starlight trembled a bit, “Puerto Caballo? That’s a town for the outlaws.”
“But it’s the closest port to the location where the ‘light’ was seen.”
“The light?”
“Yes, I investigated a little bit more about this ‘meteorite’ and the night when it landed, a red light momentarily illuminated the sky.”
“Do-you-think it could be an alien?” Spike said quivering, “or maybe a giant lizard monster that just woke up from the ocean!”
The two remain silent for a few seconds, “Spike, you need to stop reading so many comics at night.”
Starlight turned to look at her friend, “so you think that…. Whatever that thing was could have ended up in Puerto Caballo?”
“It could, but that’s up to Trixie to find out.”
“.......and that’s how I arrived here.”
I raised an eyebrow, “I’m going to be honest you, I didn’t understand almost anything what you just talk.”
She frowned, “y-you, did you understand at least what I have to pay!"
Tapping my chin, I placed a hand on my back, “you never talk about a pay.”
“Ahhhhh!”
I rolled my eyes and started jogging towards the town.
"I will not waste more of my time."
The unicorn turned and galloped from behind.
"Hey! We have a deal”
I slowed down and started walking through the tropical bushes, "of course we have."
She awkwardly backed off, "what's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll see when I show it to you."
I silently made a complete turn around the town’s walls, and stayed hidden behind a tree as I looked at the port.
"There it is, the Intrepid."
I considered my options. I could say that at least 7 pegasi were around the capsule.
The interesting thing is that each one of them was wearing golden armour with a Roman-style helmet. Maybe if I approached and tried to reason with them was my only option to reach it. They had swords, an advantage over me in every way. I tried to look up a little longer, and my eyes fell on three other boats just like the one I got here.
"How am I going to know which is which, come on when I'm going to have at least a bit of luck..."
A gallop came from behind, the blue unicorn looking very irritated, "what do you think you're-doing."
She suddenly lunged towards me, pushin me back in the process.
My first reaction was to glare at her, and just as I was about to say something, she quickly shut me up by putting a hoof over my mouth.
"Shhhhhh silence," she tried to look towards the harbour carefully, "the Royal Guard arrived before me."
"What-what is the royal guard?"
"Shhh lower," she motioned for me to follow her, "they can not see you, if they do, they'll surely take you straight to the dungeons in Canterlot!"
"So they are the local law enforcement," I snapped my fingers while adorning a smile, "perfect! Maybe if I explain my situation to them, they-"
"No no! If you try to get close to them, they will surely imprison you! You are a smart lilaihtimam!"
I groaned, "what is a lilaihtimam."
She shook her head, "that doesn't matter now okay, you just can't get close to them, after all, that thing could be the meteorite-"
She stopped and turned to look at me with an expression of horror, "what-what-what you-you-you-you er-is an ... alien ... that's why you wanted to go back to you-you-you. thing..."
"I huh."
"Of course! That explains why you can speak, you had to take the form of an animal when entering our planet."
"What! That not make sense, I'm human!"
"Exactly, you magically shapeshifted."
I swore that at that moment I was about to hit someone, "no, you misunderstood me, this, body is that of a human!"
"Huh?" she tilted her head a bit, "what did you just say?"
"I-I, this what-"
"What was that! Who's there!"
Our mouths closed automatically and she leaned a little closer to me, "listen, please trust Trixie this time," she paused as we both moved in unison, "accompany Trixie to Ponyville, there is an alicorn that can help save.... whatever that is. "
I raised an eyebrow, "and how do you know that?"
"I just know! She was Princess Celestia's student."
"Princess Celestia?" That name finally rang out and a smile appeared on my face, "She is the leader of Equestria right?"
"Not only her, Princess Luna and Princess Twilight as well, but not many ponies know the latter is a princess."
She paused, and turned to look at me confused, "how do you know about her?"
"Someone told me about them, except that Twilight."
She was suspicious for a moment but decided to shrug it off, "look, I can take you to one of the princesses."
"If you can do that! I-I would be perfect!"
"Yeah, Trixie is always right about those things," she said proudly as she started to slow down, "I guess you want to meet our leaders right?"
"Yes! That would be amazing."
"Of course, you can convince them to stop following you just because you're an alien and help you get back to your planet," she finished awkwardly, "if that's what you want and are"
I chuckled, "that might do the trick."
"And Trixie can finally pay her debt," she said while jumping excitedly.
"Wait, how far is that Ponyville from here?"
She became upset because of those words, "at least a week."
I cursed under my breath. That seemed like a long time to be away from the Intrepid, he was afraid that they might use their energy on the hood and possibly damage the contents of it. The other way was to simply turn me in, but I could end up in this 'Canterlot,' which eerily sounds like the castle of Camelot in the old King Arthur story. Surely that place is a kind of Area 72 for this world, a desolate, high-security prison where they keep 'paranormal' things.
I shuddered at that thought. My decision was already obvious, "I accept."
"You accept!" she brightened at this, "of course you would accept! Who wouldn’t accept something from Trixie.”
"So.... almadélfous taxidióhirin"
I nodded once, "almadélfous taxidióhirin."
"And Trixie, what is almadélfous taxidióhirin?"
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Flowers blossomed in their virgin petals, the air was cool, and the branches of the trees softly danced with their leaves. I was wondering many things, since the day I arrived back to the planet, I needed to know the source of all of this. It’s so blunt to say that it’s magic, and I can say this you know, every single proton and neutron were not strangers to the ones of the ancient times, even though, I like to compare their magic with nuclear fission like, more of what a nuclear reactor would do.
I placed a hand on my chest as I took a deep breath. I glanced at my surroundings, how the forests have changed into this- subliminal trees I might add. I felt chills down my spine as we entered this place called-
“The Everfree Forest!” Trixie said with a huge grin, “but nothing out of this world.”
I raised an eyebrow at her statement, her response being a nervous smile.
“Please Trixie- don’t let this be the moment before the disaster.”
“Whhhaaat,” she made circles with her hooves, “could not possibly be, no buckle up! Let’s get going.”
“Buckle up? How do you know that expre-” she cut me off when she slightly pushed me into the dark path. I sent a solemn glare to her, but curiosity won over my annoyance. The sunlight wasn’t covered by the trees, but it was significantly dimmer. Fallen autumn leaves covered the trail, every once in a while, we would crush some branches that fell from those mighty trees. I want to try comparing it with the famous Black Forest. It was so similar, except for the trees of course, that though they had sturdy trunks that seemed to reflect their years, they weren’t as tall as a pine tree, roughly the size of an Apple tree I might add.
“With a capital B, and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool... ”
My song was creepy enough for this forest…. the only sound independent from the wind, our steps, and our breathing.
“So- how far are we from this place.”
“Uh?” Trixie turned her head, and rolled her eyes as she nonchalantly continued her pace, “a couple of minutes give it or take it.”
“A couple of minutes,” I was taken aback for a bit, “wasn’t this one of the largest forests in this country?”
“Yes--” she started without looking back, “but we aren’t crossing the entire thing, just going through the back.”
A chilly breeze startled me. I got into a defensive position, my eyes travelling across the place as I tried to find a threat.
I felt a hoof touch my left leg. My head jerked back, my face continuing to wear a hasty expression. Her eyes softened, and a playful smile appeared out of nowhere.
“So the alien is afraid…”
“Who cares,” I said with a growl, “this place is literally something that you can only find in books.”
She giggled, too much of my annoyance, “aww don’t worry little foal, we’re close anyway.”
My fists clenched as I rolled my eyes, my expression becoming bored at the silence of every second that passed.
“You see, there- it is!” Trixie said happily, pointing with her hoof at the end of the forest, where the sunlight illuminated the entrance.
“Hallelujah,” I rubbed my hands, sharing a last glance with the dark forest, “now the time begins.”
Crack
Our heads tuned in unison. I walked forwards while crouching a bit, getting ready to receive any attack in my way.
Crack
“Come on!” Trixie hushed, “let’s go now!”
I paused and locked my eyes with a chicken- with a dragon body?
“Uhhhhhhh.”
We kept staring at each other before this chicken’s eyes got bored. It turned back to mind its business.
I straightened, and after sharing a few glances with the bush where it disappeared, I jogged forwards.
“You see nothing- Trixie,” I tilted my head to the side as I passed a hand over her eyes, “are you alright.”
She stood frozen without saying a word. I poked her fur, suddenly snapping her out of that trance while cleaning a drop of sweat. Her head slowly moved to meet my eyes, and after a moment of silence, a frown deepened.
“Are you bucking crazy!”
“Uhh, what!” I almost stumbled thanks to her reaction. Her ears were twitching uncontrollably, “what were you thinking!”
“What! It’s just a chicken!”
“NO!” she stomped a hoof on the ground, “that was not a chicken, it was a katsarídabgha.”
“A what,” I said with a pause, “another word into my vocabulary.”
“Ughhh,” she quickly turned back and started trotting, “let’s get out of here now before we encounter another thing.”
I looked back, before turning again with a deflected face, continuing to walk towards the light. The sun met my eyes, causing me to jerk back. I put a hand on my forehead, the blurry image slowly became clearer. I toppled with something of the old times, autumn, the beautiful autumn season. Now, it was hard to differ back in that forest, and because everything here makes no sense, going through that place felt like- like going through a portal. Like in that old British tale, where some kids went through a wardrobe and ended up in a land with a different season from theirs, and most importantly of all, with magic.
I chuckled as my eyes trailed off around. The insects were buzzing with activity, on the ground I could see the diligent ants preparing for winter. The air was suddenly filled with the magical songs of the birds, and the orangeish aspect of everything combined with the humidity of a recent shower made everything so natural.
The only thing that lacked in the ancient times of this world.
Trixie tsked, gaining my attention. She smiled a bit, and proudly extended her hooves at quite the sight, “I present you, Ponyville!”
I gasped half-heartedly, and without saying a word, I walked to the nearest hill, where the view of a town could be seen. I remembered those, only seen in books, from the times where wood was used as a construction material, and the idea of peace was this exact image. I don’t remember the times, only a few people knew them, the shining was how they called them. Selected to remember history before the 21st century. They all looked so old, in a classic Bavarian style, their wooden planks dripped small water droplets. The biggest sight though was the crystal tower that extended into the sky from the centre of the town. The background was too perfect, as two mountains stood proudly with the faint image of a castle covered in the cold fog.
I took a deep breath, my nostrils filling the lungful of air that I much craved, pure unadulterated, normal air. Not processed air from a factory, but the one from the trees. I stretched and sighed. My eyelids were threatening to close, my body wanted to just- fall and sleep till the end of eternity.
I clapped softly, “let’s keep moving.”
Suddenly, one of the tree's roots came out from the ground, causing me to stumble and land on my face.
“What the fuc-”
The sound of those annoying giggles… I slowly turned my head, to see Trixie laughing her life off. My eyes narrowed, responding with an unamused stare.
“Ha ha ha, very funny Trixie.”
“I-” she breathed deeply, failing to contain her laugh, “I’m sorry- you were just so, inspired .”
“Huh,” I shook my head, and stood up while cleaning my suit, “thank you for your feedback, I’m gonna give mine, you need some creativity with your freaking names.”
“Whatever,” she said with a hiss, her face changing to a serious one, “I also did that because we can’t just enter the town with a lilaihatman in plain view, ponies really don’t like seeing apes, especially hairless ones.”
“You don’t say.”
“I say this-” she began nonchalantly as she patted my hand slightly, “because I will need to apply a temporary spell on you.”
“Uhh,” my mouth tried formulating more words. It felt horrible being pushed and thrown by that energy, and the uneasiness of her offer only worsened things, “is it really necessary?”
“Well yes, at least till Twilight sees you.”
I rubbed my left shoulder, “I have a bad feeling of this alright, I don’t think I should be taking this one.”
“Trixie doesn’t see another way.”
“There-” I looked around, for something that could save me from the inevitable fate. With a groan, I turned back to look at Trixie again, “does it hurt?”
“No-” her horn glimmered, and I was instantly surrounded by her blue energy, “well, maybe a little sting.”
“A little what- ouch.”
She gave me an unamused face, “don’t be such a foal, aaaand it’s done!” she finished with a clap of her hooves.
“Yeah,” I tilted my head, “what- did you do.”
“I gave you the temporary ability to be invisible.”
My mouth made an O, and my eyes looked down, as I examined my entire body, “can you see me?”
“Yes, because I made the spell.”
I hummed, my smile slowly returning as I started walking, “Then let’s not waste more time, forwards.”
Trixie groaned again, her pace increasing as she passed by me, “just follow me and you’ll not get lost, we need to reach the castle as fast as we can.”
“Whatever.”
The walk was quiet, at least for me. Trixie was greeting some ponies that were passing by. After crossing a bridge, we reached a semi-flat zone, some hills on the east from my side, where an Apple orchard was growing. I could see the barn house amid this place, which reflected the sun on its vibrant red colour. For second notes, these creatures must be part of some religious cult, due that every single one of the ponies has these colourful tattoos on their flanks. They could be from pagan roots, considering that they believe that earthly beings raise and lower the sun and the moon. I might ask for her religion, and how it relates to her little symbol.
I raised an eyebrow, and slowly lifted one of my sleeves.
888
Maybe that’s what their flanks meant, just like my serial number, these ponies might have a society similar to the one before the Great War and the European upheaval. Could it mean an occupation, something that they did? That was up to me to discover.
Entering the town, I focused my attention on the tiniest details, from the scratches on their wooden structures to the little imperfections on the windows.
“Wow,” I mumbled under my breath, my reflection…. Disappeared. Maybe in the future I will ask her how can I make all of that, somehow, it must be possible to replicate this energy that somehow exists. Could be related to the H-Bomb?
So many questions, few answers for my disgrace. The town looked medieval I must add, not a road, not a single stone. The ground was dirt, like if someone never thought of creating you know, infrastructure, even though their horses and it’s easier to walk on the stone.
“Right here,” she mumbled in a volume which I could hear. With a nod, we doubled the corner and reached a long path which led to the most beautiful structure I’ve seen in my entire life.
Whatever it was, without a doubt, one of the greatest sights of all. The foundation- the entire structure looked like it was carved from a tree. Crystal, glimmering beauty, overwhelming to my eyes, shining, shimmering and splendid.
“Wow, without a doubt- this doesn’t exist in my old world, I don’t think it never did.”
Trixie turned her head back but said nothing. She instead looked at me with apologetic eyes, with the flicker of amusement might add. I looked like a kid in a candy shop, and with reason, after living for several years in a world that was mostly built on concrete and metal, this was refreshing.
We stopped at the entrance, where she knocked on two giant golden doors. We waited for a few seconds until the doors opened, a unicorn with pale, light greyish heliotrope fur looked to the sides, before finally seeing the two…. Only Trixie.
“You’re back! I thought you were going to take longer.”
A smug smile made its way to her muzzle, “how could you think that! For me, ha, this was as easy as eating hay.”
“Wouldn’t say that,” I mumbled under my breath, which was unfortunately caught by this unicorn’s ears.
“Who said that?” she said as she tried to look past Trixie.
“NOPONY,” Trixie answered without checking its volume, “nopony-” she took a deep breath while shaking her head, “Twilight’s here right?”
“Yeah, she’s here,” the unicorn turned back, cleaned her hooves on a red carpet and continued walking, “she’s in the throne room.”
“Thanks-” Trixie barely said, tapping my leg and pointing inside with a smug expression.
I frowned and narrowed my eyes as I entered the castle. The doors closed, startling me a bit as I turned my head. With the simple sound of the glimmering crystals, I looked back, and the greatness of the place made my mouth water.
The windows, the chandelier, the stairs, everything! Shining, so pure, so unadulterated. It looked like an old church, which was polished till death. How could they even build a castle made of crystals, that’s the worst material to build a castle of that type.
“This is incredible,” I bent to one knee and lowered my hands to touch the ground. It was cold, not as ice, but as a glass.
“Just wait till you see the rest’” Trixie said in an almost sing-like voice, “what are you waiting for? The spell is going to end soon.”
I got up, straightened, and with a shake of my wrists, I continued forwards, “so where’s this throne room.”
“Upstairs.”
I gulped and started climbing the crystalline stairs. The windows seemed to be forming something, like figures of past events. The sun flickered through the crystals, a rainbow covered me, the warmth of true heat was so, how can I say it?
Magical?
We reached the top floor, where a long hallway was located, ending on two huge golden doors. Paintings were all around the place, mostly about ponies, others were about paradise. Each door frame seemed to lead to a library, like if we were surrounded by one. The two doors opened by magic, making my heart flip over. We entered a gigantic room, the ceiling was very similar to the one that you’ll see in a cathedral. The sun seemed to fall on a round table, surrounded by six chairs made out of multicoloured crystal.
“Uhh, Twilight?”
Who the hell is Twilight? Oh right, the princess
I heard the sound of books falling, which made me turn back. This one was indeed different, she had a lavender fur, maybe a unicorn, or not? She had wings, which made her a pegacorn I think? Or the unicorns actually have wings. Purple eyes, a small crown on her forehead, and wore four glimmering crystal shoes as well.
She tilted her head, “Trixie- you’re back.”
“What a great introduction princess!” Trixie said with sarcasm dripping from her voice, “you missed me?”
This, Twilight, was taken aback from the reaction of the unicorn, “I’m sorry, it’s been a hard day.”
“For everypony,” the previous unicorn said as she entered the room, “another meteorite.”
“Fell recently near Manehattan,” Twilight finished. She looked between Trixie and the door, “and what did you find out?”
“Well-” her words were cut by the sudden flicker of my body. The blue energy crawled all its way to my head, where tiny sparkles of magic combined went floating in the air.
“That was- weird,” my vice fell flat as I noticed something, everybody was staring at me. I felt very uncomfortable, it wasn’t only weird, but the room also went silent.
“What-is-that-thing,” the unicorn sputtered, and took a few steps back, “you brought a hairless animal! What is that thin-”
“A human?”
Everyone turned to Twilight, her words were left hanging in the air, waiting for an apparent response. My eyes widened, she said the word, not that weird thing everyone has been saying, but straight out a human.
“Excuse me-” I blurted out, gaining a collective gasp from the two mares, “how do you know that I’m a human?”
“I uhh,” Twilight tapped her hoof on the floor, “I’ve kinda gone to your world.”
“What!” Trixie and I said in unison.
“What the hell do you mean with, I’ve gone to your world?”
She decided to ignore momentarily the question, “though you look different, your eyes are smaller, you seem to be a little uh, fatter?”
“What’s that supposed to mean!”
“I’m not being rude,” her ears sprawled on her head, “it’s just that I-uhh, maybe something went wrong when you came out of the portal, and instead of becoming a pony you became a- well this form of a human.”
I shook my head, and facepalmed hard, “what the hell! Are you talking about! Portal?? What the hell, I didn’t come out from a portal!”
“-He actually came out from the meteorite,” Trixie added nervously, “if that is important.”
“Whwhwhwh WHAT!” Twilight shouted, “YOU CAME FROM WHERE!”
“I uh- aAH!”
With her magic, she made me take a seat on one of the chairs. She continued to indulge me again in her magic.
It ceased, and she slowly stepped back, “not a single sign of magical swirls from you-”
“What does that means-”
I was interrupted again by the- pegacorn, I think.
“You, you know what’s the Canterlot High right?”
I shook my head.
“And Canterlot City, the United States of Equestria!”
“Whoa whoa, slow down cowboy, I have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about… if you are referring to Camelot then they’re fictional,” I said with a frown.
“I- impossible, then you came from-”
“Let me ask you the questions,” I interrupted her harshly, “do you know, what’s Europe?”
“No.”
“Italy?”
“No.”
“Germany, Russia, France, Spain.”
“Uhh no?”
“The United Kingdom.”
“No,” she stopped, and she looked down to her hooves, “you-you-you came from space?”
I grinned, “yes, you could say that.”
“I need, I need- air, I need, SPIKE!” her voice rang through my ears, “SPIKE COME HERE!”
“Twilight what do you want- whoa,” the newcomer started tiredly, before his attitude lifted by my presence, “what’s a human doing here?”
“Is that a dragon,” I shakily muttered as we both locked eyes.
“SPIKE!” the lavender pegacorn shouted again, “I need you to write a letter to Princess Celestia.”
“Ughh yeah sure,” the little dragon stepped faster. When he was next to Twilight a scroll and quill came out of nowhere.
“Dear Princess Celestia, a new……”
The dragon burned the scroll, and instead of becoming ashes, it disappeared in thin air. I stayed agape, watching the entire episode with wide eyes. I rubbed my chin, and my face deflated considerably thanks to the entire situation.
Now, this pegacorn seems to know what a human is, which brings up more questions. Another thing was the random list of locations she gave me, which all had very- human names, you could say. I crossed my fingers as I watched this Princess Twilight just freak out from the situation. She made appear several notebooks and books on the table, babbling to herself while teleporting across the room. It scared me. My hair was up, and my body was trembling a bit.
Trixie noticed this. She was going to make another lazy remark as a joke but decided against it. Clearing her throat, she got close to the current location of Twilight, which was behind a bunch of old boxes and books.
“Twilight, Twilight,” she huffed and continued following Twilight around the room, “TWILIGHT!”
The crazed pegacorn stopped rambling, and with a flick of her hair, she turned back, ignoring Trixie in the process. She sat nonchalantly on the main throne where she raised her head and kept staring at me with eyes full of energy.
We stayed like that, for about five minutes. I cleared my throat, and spoke up, “Listen uhh, princess, I don’t know you but-”
“SO TELL ME!” she said after a long breath, “HOW IS YOUR WORLD!”
“Uhhh I can’t-”
“There are animals?”
“Yes?”
“Plants?”
“Yes…”
“Equestrian creatures?”
“Yes.”
“How is it you have these things? Including equestrian creatures???!”
“How is that you’re the one asking the questions, and not me,” I growled, and accidentally, revealed my teeth. The ponies collectively gasped, as their interest piqued.
“You have canines!” The pegacorn said again, “another difference between the humans and- you.”
Her suggestion took me aback, “I am a human.”
“You aren’t,” she stated with a scowl, “you have smaller eyes, larger nose, a more rounded head, wider neck, a bigger body, apparent canines, and you act differently than them.”
I rubbed my temples, “I am a human being, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, from your description, it creeps me out if you have seen humans at all, don’t you know that this entire place is just-” I clicked my tongue, falling silent. The pegacorn tilted her head, curiosity overwhelming her.
“This place is what?”
“Just another planet,” I said with a grin, it wasn’t really a lie, after all, Earth has changed so much that it’s so alien yet familiar, “and that’s all that you need to know.”
“That… makes little sense, or it does,” she answered with a confused face. She frowned a bit as her eyes narrowed, “what did you mean about-”
“I’m sorry ma’am,” I interrupted her in an authoritative voice, “but I’m afraid I can’t give you information about this, I was only authorised to share it with one of your leaders, if you have any problem you can gladly contact the United Nations Space Command, even though, I’m afraid that they might not get back with you.”
“But I am a princess! I’m one of the princesses of Equestria!”
“Oh right,” I snapped my fingers, “then I suppose I can share part of it with you.”
“Why don’t you share it with us as well.”
Everyone gasped, except me of course. I slowly turned my head, raising an eyebrow at the two newcomers. They looked angry, even though, my mind wandered to notice the differences between them, including the size, and two their regal manes. One of them had a white coat, adorning a golden chest piece, gold shoes, and a crown that exclaimed impotence from it. The other one was smaller, she had a dark blue coat, and was dressed similarly to the other one, with the exception. Instead of golden pieces, it was wearing silver ones with a crescent adorning them.
“Wow…” I left my words hanging in the air, as I slowly got up and started walking towards them. Everything, it was just everything that made them look so different, so authoritative, like symbols, symbols that people follow for guidance.
“Who-who-who are you?” I shakily said as my body tensed. From the corner of my eyes, I saw how the others, including Trixie, bowed at the presence of these regal horses.
The white one cleared her throat, and stepped forwards while wearing a neutral face, “may I know what exactly are you? The humans from the other side of the mirror always transform into their closest relative from Equestria.”
I gulped, “listen, I’m a human and I don’t have an idea of-”
“And may I ask,” the blue one began as she took a step forward, “are you a changeling perhaps?”
My legs felt wobbly as I knew that I couldn’t make a fight with these ponies, not without weapons at least. I knew it, how risky all of this was. I turned my head and saw a glimpse of fear on Trixie’s eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about ma’am-”
“Princess.”
“Princess, of course,” I grinned, “your majesty then, I’m not a changeling or whatever that is, I’m 100% a human being.”
“But you came from outer space, as much as it’s said, you actually could resemble an alien,” the blue one said threateningly, “perhaps you aren’t a changeling, maybe a scout to invade our world.”
Partially, I said to myself. That was going terrible, if they are actually the leaders of this country, then this supposed first contact relations aren’t going smoothly, just like I wanted. At that moment, I fixed this quickly, but first I needed to make sure that the Intrepid was fine.
“Listen, princesses, I wish to know the status of the Intrepid capsule,” I declared with a frown.
The two were taken aback from my sudden change of attitude. They looked at each other curiously, and turned back with the same neutral masks, “and pray to tell,” the white one started, “what exactly this Intrepid capsule is.”
“The meteorite!” my frown deepened threateningly, “don’t play games with me, I need to know the state of the capsule, the place where I landed on Earth!”
Silence, eerily silence I must add. My chest rose and fell at the rhythm of the wind against the crystals. I shook my head, and took a step forward, “I need to know where that capsule is, I saw or at least based on what Trixie said, your guards, the supposed Royal Guards of Equestria were putting their nose on governmental property.”
“I’m sorry-” the white interrupted, “but I’m afraid that neither my sister nor I ordered to send the Royal Guard to search for this capsule, as you call it,” she made circles with her right hoof, “and I will investigate what exactly happened, but what makes you say that about what can we look or not, this is a sovereign territory I’m afraid.”
“I didn’t ask,” I said with a snarl, “of what I know, that capsule is property of ASI and the United Nations, meaning that if you put a foot, or in your case a hoof on the Intrepid, you will not like what is going to happen.”
“Is that a threat?” the blue one quickly interceded. My eyes narrowed, I straightened, and my fists clenched. My mind was planning a way in which I could escape this place without getting killed or even worse than that, arrested. I have in my mind confidential information of my government safely inside my mind, information that if someone learns about it…. It… it could be just catastrophic.
“Wow, wow, wow, let’s all calm here please,” Twilight galloped between us, her eyes changing from the princesses to me, “let’s try to be civil, we know this is- a huge discovery- Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, please.”
My mind clicked. Those two names, are the ones I’ve longed to find. Crystal mentioned back in the pirate ship two beings with the same names, the ones that everyone claims that they can control the sun, the moon, and the stars. Paganism, not respected by me at least.
“So-so-so, you’re actually the leaders of this Equestria.”
“With Twilight of course,” Celestia said with a raised eyebrow, “I got a question for you, how can you speak Ponish.”
“I don’t,” I said as I scratched the top of my head, “I-I learned it back in the ship when I arrived on your planet of course.”
“I-”
“So you didn’t do it?” I asked her in a lower tone, “then who were those winged pegasi near the Intrepid.”
Celestia shot a glance at Trixie, which she understood almost immediately. After mumbling incomprehensibly, she stepped to my side, “that’s right princess, near the supposed capsule of this alien, ummmm were present several Royal Guards scouting the place, some were apparent, trying to gain access to the capsule as well,” she paused, looked at the floor, and raised her view to meet Celestia’s eyes again, “I’m sure of what I saw.”
The two sisters shared a glance, returning it to me, “what’s your purpose here? Of course, if you know,” Celestia said in a softer tone.
“What do you mean with what’s my purpose here?” I flexed my arms, while the previous frown started appearing again.
“You know umm,” her tone was significantly lower, and her face fell a bit, “it was- incorrect to start with the wrong hoof, I wasn’t expecting to receive a letter like that one today- probably never, but I need to understand what is your purpose on our planet.”
My features softened. I looked around me, seeing how everyone had an expectant and worried expression at the same time.
I looked back, Twilight was now present to the side of this Princess Celestia. Here comes nothing.
“It’s confidential information, as I said earlier, but because you are the apparent leaders, I can only share a speck of it due to the current situation with the Intrepid,” I paused and to take a deep breath, “I come- my planet has the wishes to see the potential for the variability in coloniz-exploration, extraction, and diplomacy. This goes directly with the wishes of my country and the Organization of the United Nations.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, and lowered her head, “what were you going to say,” she looked up, with a hard glance and a slight frown on her features, “I swear I heard colonization .”
“Exploration, I repeat, other details are classified until the Genesis Program is 100% secure by its main supervisor, that being me.”
Tension rose once again in the room.
“What is Genesis?” Twilight questioned hesitantly.
I met her glance, and sighed, “the name of my mission.”
“Which the data has been very vague, and also contains a plain threat to our ponies,” Luna snapped with a frown.
“I don’t think it is a threat princess,” I scrunched my nose while stepping back, “it isn’t a threat for anybody, my purpose here is peaceful, I’m not under the orders of attacking the natives,” I pointed at the small group, “that being you, the other ponies, and creatures that inhabit the planet.”
Celestia snarled, “horseapples,” she tapped her hooves on the floor, “more information will come when you say?”
“When the capsule is secure, as apparently you have nothing to do with the ones that captured it, then I’m afraid that I will leave to hopefully track it down.”
“No,” the three princesses said in unison. My heart flopped at their sudden change of tone.
“Excuse me, I think you can’t do that.”
“We can and we will," Luna said, “if you do come from thine stars, not a single drop of magical radiation through your body, meaning that you are disconnected to the tree of harmony,” she paused inquisitively, “Tia, I think we should bring him to Canterlot.”
“It is a good idea-”
“NO!” I stomped furiously my left foot on the ground, “don’t you even dare, this is of high priority, I need you two to understand, that I need to find the capsule, I swear that I’ll tell you the truth about everything when I find it!”
They paused and looked at each other.
“Hmm,” Celestia tapped her chin, “I guess that I can help you find the capsule you’re talking about, after all, this would be of great pleasure for us, to help a being of outer space, and hopefully create peaceful relations even if..” she shrunk under my gaze, "peaceful relations….. But I cannot assure you that we will find it, and I also will not permit you to go without supervision.”
“I don’t think you can give me orders, only a designated officer can do that,” I said as I crossed my arms.
“Maybe I’m not the one to lead your jurisdiction, and I don’t know your culture, or your vocabulary considering your funny accent,” her eyes fell, “but I need you to understand the importance of all of this, we will investigate you, I will not lie, it’s important to know if you’re…an.. alien, even if the current evidence says that.”
“I can’t-”
BEEP
The single sound interrupted our conversation. I started looking in my pockets, and after some seconds, I pulled out the FPP. The device was buzzing, a led red light appeared from the top left corner next to the antenna.
“What is that- if it is a weapon-”
“IT IS NOT…. a weapon,” I declared harshly, sending a glare to the blue pegacorn in the process, “it’s something else alright.”
I pressed a button on the side, turning the screen on. Several dots appeared, suddenly being aligned to only one. It illuminated lines as it showed a rough map of my surroundings. I noticed something; the dot was moving towards another green dot.
“What the-”
“What, what happened,” Trixie interrupted nervously.
“I don’t know….” I said while turning my head to see the doors, “something is approaching-”
Suddenly, the doors glowed with a red colour, which rapidly ceased. A red circle formed, like if a laser was perforating the golden doors. We heard a tap, and the circular glowing part fell on the floor, leaving a smoke trail behind.
Luna harrumphed as she tossed her man, turning to glare at me as her horn glowed, "What did you do?”
I raised my hands, “nothing! I don’t know what’s happening.”
We all turned back with the sound of something galloping towards us. The smoke dissipated, and a brown hoof extended from the midst. We all jumped a bit as the pony revealed itself. I looked down to see the screen of the FPP again and jerked back at the glowing neon words that appeared.
Subject C-1899 - Genesis Program is under threat by uncivilised locals - Deployed defensive measures to assure the safety of the embryos and C-1899 - Genetica Incorporata…they will rebuild what we destroyed!
I saw the rest of the body, a brown earth pony with yellow eyes. The pony locked its eyes with mine. Everyone was tense, the ponies were ready for an attack, even though, Celestia’s eyes softened as she tried to approximate it.
“Hello my little pony,” she started softly, “what-what are you doing here? And may I ask, Who are you?”
We kept staring at each other. It creeped me out; it was looking into my soul. It didn’t blink, moved, or talked. It ignored Celestia and began stepping towards me; I tensed and got in a fighting position, not sure if this was something that I should consider a threat at all.
“C-1899,” the pony startled us in an icy voice. The ponies shared confused glances between them, but me, well…. What can I say except that it spoke English.
The machine repeated, “C-1899, I’m TBE-E, or the Extraterrestial Biological Finder -Earth Class in English,” the machine stopped, and looked at its surroundings, “there seems to be a threat right here, do you need my assistance. ”
I froze as I tried to formulate my words. Celestia shared a glance with her sister and began walking towards me.
“In what language did he speak…. It reminds me of.”
“Please stay back- ” The machine turned its head to meet Celestia, “if you step closer you will violate royal territory.”
Celestia cringed, “uh, can you repeat that my little pony?”
The pony stayed quiet for a few seconds. Out of nowhere it lifted a hoof, it opened , and a cannon appeared from the interior. After that, it started glowing threateningly.
“I said- step back, I am authorised to the use of deadly force if one of the GENETIC-ALICORN doesn’t want to appease, please remember, this is for the safety of mankind. ”
My eyes widened, and I raised my hands again, “PRINCESS, STEP BACK!”
Her horn was already glowing. She narrowed her eyes, and looked forward, “I’m sorry, but if you don’t want to cooperate with me I’m afraid I’m gonna-”
The machine beeped again, “NO COMPLIANCE, ELIMINATE ALICORN ALIAS ‘SOL’ 5/5 .”
“WAIT NO!”
I pounced against the machine.
BOOM
It was Genesis, you know….
It was an idea….
A future….
Something that many could say it was….
Outstanding…..
My vision was blurry. The ceiling and walls around me were completely white as we travelled down a hallway. Looking at my right, I saw a small wooden clock next to a painting.
Each time I focused more on it, it would increase….
Exodus
Leviticus
Tick… tock…. Tick….. Tock
Numbers
Lights flickered on my vision, gloved hands passed knives over my head.
In a single, calculating function…..
Tili tili bom
My stomach was trickling. A small clock went on and on and on and on…
I tried looking up and narrowed my eyes. A cold, white hospital light was just above my head. I saw hands without a body moving medical objects, all around, all around, all around, all around, all around, all around.
Close your eyes now
Flowers blossomed, a figure was there… just next to a tree on a warm day.
Someone’s walking outside the house
Tick Tock BOM, Tick Tock BOM
And knocks on the door
I sucked a lungful of air as I came back to the world of the living. I groused, my eyes opening with a bit of pain. I tried moving to the side, but something stopped me.
Clink
I jerked my head from side to side, meeting with two handcuffs firmly plastered on each extreme of some weird metallic poles. I tried moving again, this time with more force. This increased until my wrists became sore, meaning that I finally had to relax my arms. I looked around, narrowed my eyes, and recognised the weaned decorations of this place, I’m in a hospital room.
It’s too clear.
Though, nothing looked like it was made for my size. Not the furniture, not the lights, hell, not even the bed.
My toes were floating on the other end.
I squeezed my eyes so hard that stars appeared in my vision. I opened them again and ushered my frown, expecting something, from someone, to appear from those curtains with a knife and a gun.
Finally gifting me peace.
Hours passed along with the horrible sound of the second in a clock. I was waiting like a tired mule until I gave up in expecting for someone to appear from those curtains. One good thing from this experience, I finally recovered my memory, that weirdly enough, was making me well… remembe r some past events I wish never happened.
Like in my dream.
I shook my head and blurted some words through my new found heavy lips, that felt to be asleep. Somebody injected me anaesthesia…. I wonder if I looked like a monster. I felt my cheeks all blobby and deformed, a red sign I ignored for the time being.
“Yeah whatever…”
I raised an eyebrow at the rude interruption from outside.
Suddenly, the curtains opened, and a white pony entered the room. Tired eyes, a scrunched nose, bad posture, and a cup of coffee surrounded by a yellowish aura. She looked bleached and disgruntled… all at the same time.
It wasn’t something for me to worry about, well, except the handcuffs of course.
I bleated, turning my lazy eyes at the white ceiling. I wish I could, just….. you know, go home. Leave everything behind and finally find peace on this planet, where we left.
I didn’t know if I should complain. They handcuffed me, meaning that the locals already hated me for that stupid machine. The past is still here, blocking my own memories.
It’s horrible.
I said it; I hate the past. It doesn’t matter how many soothing words they said, how many lies those governments filled the people with. They were all dirty lies; they knew nothing, not the United States government, not the Russians, not the Italians, not the Japanese, not even the Germans. Absolutely everyone involved themselves in blaming each other for the situation of the world. That led to this. They threw the bag to me, and now I’m talking to some stupid ponies.
“Tell me human,” a regal voice said, crossing the curtains with a frown directed at me. I locked eyes with this Princess Celestial or it was Celestia? With the l or without it…. Meh, why would I care.
She waited for my response, something that I din’t deliver. She sighed, shaking her head and huffing hot air, “not response from you, let me ask you something, what happened back there?”
“Back where?”
“Don’t play games with me,” she stepped forward and lowered her scowl, “what did you do to that pony.”
“Nothing,” I began nonchalantly, “it isn’t a pony you know.”
Her eyes softened for a fragment of a second, “what do you mean he isn’t a pony?”
“It is something else, didn’t you notice that it literally shot fire from one of its hooves,” I said, making circles with my sore hands, “or is that normal in colourful ponies, princess.”
She growled, making her way to the side of my bed. When she got there, she sat on her haunches and narrowed her eyes. I awkwardly tried to maintain as much distance as possible, it would have been easier if this princess wouldn’t have tried to press her horn on my forehead.
I closed my eyes, expecting a last run in this line. I felt a small pinch when her horn met my head. I was feeling dizzy, and more and more tired…. And tired and.
Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock……..
My eyes shot open, and I saw a faint mirror of my youth, playing and laughing all the time while watching the skies turn into a painted orange, perplexed by its beauty.
“Mom, how does the sky turn orange before the cool and wicked night shows by, under the curse of the pale moon.”
A blonde woman smiled while playing with her son's brownish curls. Her teal eyes were diamonds into another world, a dress covered her pale body….. like a shining cloak that reflected the bellows of the night.
“Up there, Selene is crying for a child, crying for the one that just died in her arms.”
The boy looked up with apologetic eyes.
“But mom, can’t she come down, and ask for the child she lost.”
“I wish it was that easy, my child, if only the world knew the meaning of that.”
Words resounded in my head, they didn’t let me think, eat, drink, or laugh. Every night I walked around my town’s park, my feet buckling the cold concrete to step on the grass. It was green, under the 3 feet of snow I mean, if only I could see a mirror of another world, a place of laughter, where everyone felt free. Some old lanterns thrown on the grass illuminated dimly the park, because no one cared to visit them in these present times.
Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock……..
“Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high… there’s a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby.”
You need to be perfect
Ballet is such a fine art, a fine dance, with a fine history born in the nation of my blood. Stars danced in my eyes, watching how perfect it was, each step, each drop of blood, that fell on the floor without a doubt.
I raised my hands, covered in dirt and blood. I could see my own reflection, which called for something else.
A train went next to my left ear, leaving a buzzing and dizzying mind in a world that seemed to went on and on and on.
Unit 237, biological warfare
“Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high… there’s a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby.”
The old trees were portals into the past, their scratched brown crust represented stories, better than lullabies of another world. I looked up, and a little snowflake fell on my skin, sending shivers down my spine.
The stories of my grandfather make me wish I was born in a different generation. He lived his entire life in this humble town, where he woke up at 5 o'clock with the song of the birds, which was brisked through the old streets. They usually flood when it rained. He didn’t worry though; he told me how the children went out to jump in the small rivers, and how they imagined being people and figures from the past as if they were in the present. His mental decadence began when the first snowflake landed on our town, I remember that he almost had a stroke of fear that overcame his senses. Maybe in the north of our continent, or even in the cold south near Antarctica, but where the green forests full of life meant the end of all for him.
Just like his fears told him so, he died from hypothermia after trying to swim in one river near the forest.
I smiled at those memories as my eyes trailed along the wooden fences separating the park from the main plaza of my town. In school, they don’t teach you anymore the history of your nation, only the facts that have been settled in the present. People wanted them to be forgotten, now the world is in pain for their sins, because as the old saying says, “learn from your past errors.”
My grandpa wanted me to learn every part of the history behind my nation. I learned that in the ancient times we were a great empire which extended its wings into Europa and beyond, very similar to what we are trying to do today. Times passed, and during the 20th century, we once again raised in power over everyone else, at least you could say.
That word is so horrible that it makes me sick of even thinking about it. My right fist clenched around my golden chain rosary, I did it for so long that a drop of blood fell onto the snow.
I stared at it solemnly, raising my hand to see the wound painted in red.
How it happened, how did the world change so sudden. Alone I was in the world of 2215, in a world that turned the colours into the neutral black and white.
The skies are constantly grey in the day, many haves forgotten how the sun shined over the world, the first light mankind ever met. I love the night, it’s so unique and great in everything it has. There’s no trick behind it, no illusion like the blue that painted the heavens in the past days, it's just the proper colour of the skies, deep jet-black.
Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock]……..
“OUCH!” I jolted back, as far as I could. I tried crawling away from the princess’s eyes, that filled eyes with confusion looked up at me with a soft gaze. She cleared her throat and placed a hoof on the bed.
“I didn’t saw nothing- nothing.”
I hyperventilated, so many pictures of the past came back to my mind. I needed to escape I needed to get out of this place; I needed to finish my mission as quick as possible. I gulped, my hands were playing with the upper chains, trying to look a way for me to take them off and make a run for it.
“Where is,” I caught my air, “where is the machine.”
“The machine,” she raised an eyebrow, “it is currently being contained by Luna.”
“It’s still attacking you?” I asked int he slowest way possible.
“Yes…” she tilted her head, “why is that important? The elements of harmony are going to control it anyway,” she paused, he eyes flickering to the side, “I have another question to you, how is it possible that you diverted my magical signatures.”
“Listen princess, I have as much questions as you have, but first let me control it.”
“It appears to be in your side,” she lowered her gaze to meet my eyes, “and it has been attacking us, whatever that thing is, it’s in your side.”
“And what is my side,” I said, my frown deepening threateningly.
“The uhh, bad one?”
“Are you answering or questioning,” I clenched my jaw, looked to the sides, and sent a puff of air.
“This went all wrong princess,” I began softly, gaining her attention, “I want to have peaceful relations don’t want to fight you, and I can show this,” I paused, and lowered my gaze, “I know you don’t trust me, I don’t trust you either, so don’t worry, the sentiment is mutual.”
My eyes raised to meet hers, “let me fix this, and we can start over again, but,” I moved my hands to the side, ”I don’t think that leaving me here would do much good.”
She stared at me naturally. Her ears pressed against her head, as a frown made its way back, “only one chance, you mess up… and my subjects are first.”
I nodded. In a blink of an eye, the two handcuffs fell from my hands. I repeatedly touched my wrists as I stretched a little.
“Now let’s go.”
Author's Note
Alright, so a few things. I mixed the prologue with the rest of the story as it goes on. The second, you've might noticed that I changed the adventure tag for the dark one, this is for a reason in specific. While I can assure you that most of the story will not be dark, there is going to be a future chapter where things will go down.
The other thing is that I changed the origin point to the 21st Century. This was because I wanted to make the story more closely related to the modern times.
I also reviewed the past chapters and tried fixing as many errors as I could.
