Author's Note

So this is a thing. Not sure how it'll go but I randomly got this idea at 4am and decided to just go with it. Honestly I think there is a lot I could do with it, and this chapter was just the slow introduction and a bit of building of the world and story and stuff so yeah.

The most I can say is try to keep an open mind and hopefully enjoy.

suitable planet found . . .

> suitable planet found . . .
> rebooting core systems . . .
> 15%
> 34%
> 44%
> 63%
> 80%
> 93%
> 100%
> reboot complete. . .
> en route to "planet-9923121" . . .
> estimated time until arrival - 49hr/37min/7sec . . .

Everfree Forest, Equestria

The morning air was cool, a slight breeze rustling the leaves of the trees of the forest. The chirping of the birds along with the rustled leaves made for a peaceful ambience in the forest, and had it not been for the dangers of the forest, it would likely be a popular spot for morning walks by the residents of the towns and villages nearby. The peaceful sounds of nature however were soon interrupted by the sound of a violent explosion in the distance. An unsuspecting skiff flying above the forest was struck by something that fell from even higher up in the sky, the collision causing the barrels of alcohols they were inconveniently carrying - to ignite. They object that struck the skiff was lighting fast, so the crew couldn't catch a glimpse of what it was, though that was the least of their concerns.

Meanwhile, the object that collided with the skiff suddenly shot out multiple fabric sheets attached to rope - parachutes. This along with the viscous flame blasting out of the bottom of the object managed to dampen the impact it would make on the forest floor, though some considerable damage would still done to the silvery capsule.

CRASH!

The capsule makes contact with the ground, leaving a few feet deep crater beneath it, the parachutes slowly drifting down and tangling in the trees. The chirping of the birds stopped because of the disturbance, and the breeze through the leaves seemingly disappeared.

> landing successful . . .
> damage sustained . . .
> running diagnostics . . .
> diagnostics complete . . .
> memory core 1/6 disconnected, unresponsive
> memory core 3/6 connected, damaged . . .
> memory core 4/6 connected, unresponsive . . .

The hypothetical dust settles, and the strange capsule had begun humming slightly, though it would be impossible to hear of the wind and the chirping of birds started up again.

> embryo containment compromised, unrepairable . . .
> purging embryo containment . . .

Suddenly a smaller capsule launches out of the bigger capsule, hitting the ground with a loud THUD!
Just as suddenly as it hit the ground, it detonated leaving not a trace of it behind - almost like it just vaporized.

> embryo containment purged . . .
> initiating survey drones . . .
> sd1 unresponsive . . .
> sd2 unresponsive . . .
> sd3 launching . . .

After a few more moments of silence, save for the slight humming of the capsule, a small hatch on the top of the capsule slides upon and a small machine pops out, unfolding as it does. In its fully deployed form, it looks similar to a quad copter, though there were noticeable differences. The propellers of the drone, Survey Drone 3, could rotate much like a VTOL, though it was solely for being able to go even faster in the air should the need arise. On the underside was a small hatch with various little tools and trinkets on the inside such as little claws to carry and manipulate things. On the front was just a plain camera lens. Despite it being rather undetailed, this little drone was versatile and equipped with cutting edge technology.

{sd3}> testing systems . . .
{sd3}> camera functional . . .
{sd3}> infrared functional . . .
{sd3}> night vision functional . . .
{sd3}> zoom 2x-100x functional . . .

Spinning around on the spot and observing the surroundings, the spinning of the drones blades were dead silent. While this wasn't a needed feature for the drones, the humans included it because it seemed cool. Simple minded creatures they were.

{sd3}> camouflage functional . . .

With a flash of white, the drone disappears before reappearing a few moments later. A feature that was built into the drones should they need to hide from any unsavoury aliens on whatever habitable planet it found itself surveying.

{sd3}> speaker and microphone functional . . .

A beeping could be heard from an unseen speaker on the drone, slowly increasing in volume. About 11 beeps later, it stops.

{sd3}> battery remaining - 19hr/58min/5sec . . .
{sd3}> beginning survey . . .

Raising into the sky above the trees, the drone slowly rotates a full 360 degrees to scan its surroundings trying to decide which way would be best to survey first. Normally it wouldn't be too difficult a choice, but the other two survey drones weren't working, so AMIRCEOS would have to put a bit more digital thought into it.

{sd3}> reverting to second name ESTER . . .
{sd3}> reason: AMIRCEOS too long/unappealing . . .

Zooming in on something in the distance, Ester spots what looks like a dilapidated stone structure peeking out over the trees. Switching to 60x zoom, it could make out what seemed like a castle similar to those on earth, though this one was covered in vines and shrouded by trees. A strange place for a castle. Rotating its propellers, Ester flies towards the ruins considerably faster then even the fastest racing drones back on earth.

{sd3}> opening note log . . .
Log 1: Nitrogen and oxygen levels resemble that of Earth. Gravity is 0.130 m/s2 greater than Earth. Plant life resembles that of Earth. Traces of intelligent civilization detected, potentially life similar to that found on Earth. Log end.

Though the trip was short, Ester reached the ruin and descended towards the visible entry way. It was a grand, though crumbling arch with metal bars forming the gate. Luckily there was a sizable hole so Ester could fly right in switching to night vision automatically. Spinning around to observe the surroundings, Ester took multiple pictures before decided to fly down one of the two halls available. Most of the door ways were caved in or had a closed door, but one in particular caught Esters mechanical eye - a slightly ajar door that's seemingly stuck on a book of some sort. Hovering up to the door, the little hatch in the underside of the drone opened up and revealed a sort of claw which Ester then used to push open the door, which was surprisingly didn't have hinges so rusted it wouldn't budge. Concealing the claw, Ester floats into the room to reveal what resembled a library. It was mostly empty, but a few books here and there still remained.

{sd3}> opening note log . . .
Log 3: Library and books located. Activating language analysis and attempting to learn the language of this world. Log end.

Floating over to a random book on a table, the claw once again emerges from the drone and gently grabs the cover of the book, flipping it open and sending dust everywhere. It was clear this place has been abandoned for awhile, because everything was absolutely caked in dust. Though at first Ester flips through the pages slowly, it very soon begins to pick up the pace flipping through pages rapidly and taking in the information so quick that what seemed like a 600 pages in about 2 minutes.

{sd3}> scan complete . . .
{sd3}> analyzing . . .
{sd3}> estimated wait - 12hr/24min/58sec . . .
{sd3}> warning - movement detected at base station . . .
{sd3}> activating base station . . .

> To Be Continued . . .