Mooned

by GoodGuyGrivvs

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe, Human, Nightmare Moon, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Science Fiction
Length: 6019

A curious and sentient artificial intelligence probe that was sent to discover habitable planets for humankind, the probe ends up damaged and crashed down onto the moon of Equestria. There it meets a strange, solitary creature.

CT33 - the farthest known galaxy on the edge of the known universe. A place the human race intend to colonize, so long as there were suitable planets. Sending the highly advanced probe CT33-DP, the DP meaning Discovery Probe, the otherwise extremely resilient machine is damaged and crashes down onto a small, barren and gray planet - a moon. The moon of a lush and lively planet that is, unbeknownst to the human race and CT33-DP, inhabited by talking and magic wielding intelligent creatures. That is, until it meets one such creature who too is trapped on the lunar body.

Published 2023-01-07 03:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-01-29 23:06:37 UTC

CT33-DP

Author's Note

So I'm back after a long 4 years. Granted that's partially due to me losing interest in the whole multi-colored small horses thing, and also partially because I forgot my information, but that's neither here nor there.

I noticed that this site is still used, though not as much as it once was. I also recently read a story that has since be unofficially cancelled, as it not updated and the author not appearing online since posting it, so I decided to take inspiration and make my own because it seemed like a cool concept.

Keep in mind it's been 4 years since I've tried to write something, so I don't expect it to actually be a good read, but I can at least pretend to hope someone enjoys it. The last time I worked on something was The Dusk of a Rainy Day, which depending on how hard I cringe at my past writing, I may or may not continue since it's current status is cancelled.

Again that all depends on if I continue enjoying the aforementioned multi-colored small horses thing since I have been falling in and out of it over the past few months. We shall see how it goes. anyways, before this authors note turns out as long as the story itself, I'll take my leave. Hopefully someone enjoys the read.

P.S.
ㅤㅤI'm not super great at photoshop or anything but I tried my best to make a decent
ㅤㅤstory profile image thing. Apologies for the bad job.

CT33-DP

{// boot sequence initiated . . . //}

A small and circular ring begins to whine mechanically, surprisingly loud for its small size. A small green light flickered rapidly. It was the core of CT33-DP, a probe made solely to explore and discover the CT33 galaxy. In what was no smaller then a ring one would wear on their finger, it was a highly intelligent and sentient piece of artificial intelligence.

{// boot sequence in progress . . . %47.56% . . . //}

CT33-DP was nearly ready to be sent off on it's journey. The human scientists and engineers just had a few things to check, but then it would be installed into it's chassis and launched out to begin its long voyage, though not as long as it would take colonizers to get to CT33.

{// boot sequence successful . . . input administrator password . . . //}
ㅤㅤㅤ> ********_ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
{// password accepted . . . initiating primary systems . . . //}ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The previously green flickering light changes to a solid blue, the mechanical whining of it fading. Such a small and advanced device was a super computer in and of itself. Tens of thousands of yottabytes of data could be stored, so CT33-DP could scan and store data on every star, asteroid, comet and planet it passes by. It could even scan a planet, determine what it's made of and what materials could be found, as well as mapping the surface and storing the data as a 3D, 1:1, hyper realistic looking file for scientists and researchers to examine whenever CT33-DP transmits its information back to it's human creators. A true testament to just how ingenious human technology and science can be.

{// primary systems initiated . . . initiating subsystems . . . //}

Despite the impressive technology that made up CT33-DP, it's chassis was still relatively primitive. It was a tubular shell with solar panels on it. There were a few exterior panels and boxes, but it was rather bare overall. Equipped with nothing but electric propulsion RCS thrusters, the chassis of CT33-DP wouldn't be able to do too much in terms of tight maneuverability, but it was enough to do what it needed to do. To actually get to the galaxy CT33, the chassis would be shot from an Intergalactic Propulsion Cannon, or IPC. A cannon that can, as the name would suggest, propel something from one galaxy to another one quickly. Even so, CT33 being on the edge of the known universe, it would take roughly two hundred years to reach its destination. Two hundred years in the future, CT33-DP would reach it's destination and begin it's discovery and scanning of the CT33 Galaxy, and then transmit all of the information it had collected over those two hundred years, right back to its human creators. A rather long wait for them, but the average life span for a human was one hundred and fifty years, anyways.

{// subsystems initiated . . . initiating CT33-DP A.I. Core . . . //}

A mechanical arm then lowered towards the ring that was CT33-DP and carefully picked it up, moving it over to its chassis. Gently placing it into its place, the mechanical arm retreats as a panel then covers the open side of the chassis, then being welded into place. Once again, a very primitive chassis for such an incredible piece of technology inside of it, but it would serve it's purpose adequately. It was then a loud, blaring alarm began to sound.

BREEEP BREEEP BREEEP

The alarm blared, red warning lights flashing along with it. The chassis and CT33-DP was ready to be shot out towards the CT33 Galaxy. The human engineers and scientists cleared the area, airlocks shutting as the room the IPC was held in depressurized. The main hangar door then slowly opened, the blaring of the alarms being drained out by the endless and silent expanse of space. Even though it could not be heard, the IPC began to growl violently, an electric buzz emitted from it that would deafen anyone in it's presence. The barrel of it began to glow a very bright electric blue, all of the power from the orbital station being drained and put into the cannon, prompting emergency power to switch on. The humans knew that launching CT33-DP at such speeds would take an tremendous amount of power, but admittedly they didn't expect it to cause the orbital station to boot into emergency power mode. Thankfully though, the IPC drew all the power it needed, leaving enough of the emergency power to keep the life support of the station on.

{// CT33-DP A.I. Core initiated . . . ready for launch in . . .//}
{// 3 . . . //}ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
{// 2 . . . //}ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
{// 1 . . . //}ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
{// launching . . . //}ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The electric blue light of the cannon and the deafening buzz suddenly stop, but only for a fraction of a second as a massive, blue explosion fires out from to front and the side of the cannon, the CT33-DP being shot out so fast that it could rip right through multiple earth sized planets and still be moving impossibly fast. The immense power needed and the energy generated from the cannon was so massive that the entire orbital station recoiled, being set into a relatively quick spin, effectively being knocked out of orbit of earth. It would take just as much power to restabilize the station, but they were still on emergency power. Unfortunately for the humans, this would be a tragedy that would result in the passing of nearly fifty thousand of the best and brightest humanity had to offer, but at the very least, the launch of CT33-DP was a success.

{// launch successful . . . estimated time until arrival:ㅤㅤ 203years\11months\23days\9hours\24minutes\11seconds . . . //}

{// launch successful . . . estimated time until arrival:ㅤㅤ 203years\11months\23days\9hours\24minutes\10seconds . . . //}

{// launch successful . . . estimated time until arrival:ㅤ ㅤ203years\11months\23days\9hours\24minutes\9seconds . . . //}ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
And CT33-DP was off. It's grand, universe crossing voyage began. In a relatively short two hundred and three years, it would arrive at the CT33 Galaxy to discover and explore it. But unbeknownst to it and the humans who created it, it would discover a planet full of intelligent life, their intelligence on par with 18th-21st century humans. Something that CT33-DP would attempt to, and fail at, to transmit back to humanity. What lies in store for the AI? ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

To Be Continued

Teaser for next chapter below

It was cold, the silence was deafening. There didn't seem to be any sense of gravity or atmosphere, something that the disoriented mare noticed relatively quickly. Climbing to her hooves, she opened her eyes. What was before her was... Breathtaking. One would expect it to be alarming, be she felt no such emotion at that very moment. Before her was a planet - Gaia. Her home, and the home of millions of others. She was in space. And not just that, she was on the moon. Looking around, the realization finally fully set in.

Panicking, she expected to begin suffocating, but that feeling never came. In fact, she seemed to be able to breath perfectly fine. She was confused, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment. How did she get here? Why is she here? Why can't she remember any of that? The last thing she could remember was an immense hatred towards a certain individual... Her sister Celestia, a princess of Equestria.

Banished

Author's Note

Well damn. Wasn't expecting the first chapter to get the reception it did, but cool I guess. I've gotten some ideas for what's going to be happening and when said things happen, so hopefully I can actually get it all written down well.

Hopefully this chapter is also enjoyable, but I guess we'll see how it turns out.

Banished

It was cold, the silence was deafening. There didn't seem to be any sense of gravity or atmosphere, something that the disoriented mare noticed relatively quickly. Climbing to her hooves, she opened her eyes. What was before her was... Breathtaking. One would expect it to be alarming, be she felt no such emotion at that very moment. Before her was a planet - Gaia. Her home, and the home of millions of others. She was in space. And not just that, she was on the moon. Looking around, the realization finally fully set in.

Panicking, she expected to begin suffocating, but that feeling never came. In fact, she seemed to be able to breath perfectly fine. She was confused, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment. How did she get here? Why is she here? Why can't she remember any of that? The last thing she could remember was an immense hatred towards a certain individual... Her sister Celestia, a princess of Equestria. Taking her mind off of her situation, only for a moment, she looks back at the planet before her. She began to feel... at peace. Like this is where she was meant to be. Like this was her home.

While cold at first, the mare was soon to begin feeling a warmth wash over her. It was the sun! It began to peek out from behind Gaia, the heat of the sun not quite reaching an uncomfortable heat, but still enough to break a sweat. The mare never had a problem with the light of day and the beaming heat that came with it, but she certainly did prefer the cool embrace of the moonlight. Now breaking her gaze at her planet, she starts looking around. The surface of the moon was barren. Gray sand and rocks populated the surface, a few hills and craters added a roughness to the space rock. Surely she wasn't alone? She couldn't have been. In fact, she figured this was some strange dream.

Picking a direction, the mare stretches her limbs, as if preparing for a trek, as she begins to trot along the gray wasteland. First one step, then two, then three. The lack of gravity was quite jarring, but oddly enough it didn't take too long for her to get used to it. She then realized that she could traverse the surface quicker, if the gravity truly was lacking. Looking around, the mare spots a small ridge not too far away. Turning to it and squinting, as if locking on to it, she bends down, ready to pounce.

After a deep inhale and exhale, she pushes herself forwards, lifting herself off the ground and jumping much higher then a pony should be able to jump, slowly gliding through the non-air towards the ridge. Thankfully, she slowly fell to the ridge, extending her hooves out prepared to touch down. gently, she landed. She hadn't even thought of flying with her wings. Jumping again, the mare continued her journey by jumping through a weightless environment. Every jump, she spin around and catch a glance of Gaia. It was beautiful. She felt safe here. She felt good.

Eventually, the mare had reached a steep cliff. As she landed on the edge of it, she carefully peered down it. It was a crater, but it was deep. And dark. She could not see the bottom of the pit. Curious, the mare considers jumping in, though that thought is quickly dispelled as a peculiar wind blew through the pit, a hollow howling emitting from it. It was then that she saw something. Some sort of... Glowing, flowing blue substance? Squinting, she tries her best to make it out when-

FWOOSH

It darted out of the crater and flew out behind her. Quickly swinging around, she is faced with a strange dark blue blob. Was it some sort of... Alien? Why was she not alarmed? It caught her off guard, sure, but strangely enough she didn't feel threatened or scared.

"Look at you," The blue blob speak, ironically spooking the mare. "Pathetic." It continued, the voice of it was familiar, though the mare couldn't quite place a face to it. "You don't even remember anything. How are you supposed to be a princess?" The voice then said, the blob suddenly spinning and forming a small cone before dispelling completely. In it's place was a tall, midnight blue alicorn, her mane flowing unnaturally, as if it wasn't even a mane to begin with.

The alicorn approached the mare, an ominous and dark shadow being cast upon her. "Who are you? How am I here?" The mare responded, not appreciating the insults, though being insulted wasn't at the forefront of her concerns.

Scoffing, the alicorn continued to approached the mare. "Weak little Luna, princess of the moon and unloved ruler of Equestria." The alicorn said, now practically standing over the mare. "W-who are you?! Speak!" The mare, Luna, questioned. The presence of this alicorn was chilling, and she couldn't help but feel like she could suddenly curl up into a ball and scream in fear. "What have y-you done? W-who are you?!" Luna repeated, her voice trembling. She was scared, but she couldn't tell why.

"Why, I'm you but better," The alicorn said, "The true princess of the moon, and sole ruler of Equestria," She continued, her wings unfurling as her reptilian looking eyes narrowed on Luna, "Nightmare Moon, of course." It was then Luna remembered. She remember everything. She remembered her sister, Celestia, and how the ponies of Equestria would only ever pay attention to her. The didn't care for Luna, and that hurt her. She was jealous and depressed. She hated it. She hated her sister. She wanted to be loved and praised like Celestia.

Her fear changed to hatred, those previous feelings of safety and calmness turned rage. She wanted revenge. She wanted to dethrone her sister and bring about everlasting night! But... How? It was then her previous thought came to mind. She looked at the alicorn, her other self Nightmare Moon and asked, "Why am I here though?"

There was a moment of silence.

"You failed." Nightmare Moon spoke, turning away from Luna, as if disappointed by Luna. "You lost the fight and you have been banished to the moon." She said, a venomous, hostile tone to her words, "Like the failure you are."

Silence fell upon them once again. Looking down to the ground beneath her, her ears drooping and unprompted tears welling in her eyes, she mumbles: "I'm sorry...".

Another moment of silence.

Looking up, Nightmare moon was gone. Luna was alone again. All emotion turned to sadness, and she slumped to the ground, tears clinging to her fur. She remembered everything. She remembered everything she had done. She remembered how she fought her sister, to the point that she could have killed her, had she not lost. She remembered the hatred she felt, and while she still disliked her sister, she could never imagine hurting her. She didn't want to hurt her. She just felt alone. She wanted to be loved by the one she needed most.

She felt regret.

To Be Continued

Teaser for next chapter below

{// approaching CT33 . . . initiating RCS . . . //}

A long two hundred years had passed. CT33-DP had collected data on trillions of planets, stars, comets and asteroids on its voyage. Despite this, it had only used roughly twenty three percent of its available storage. Tens of thousands of yottabytes of storage was overkill, but that's what the humans were good at. Some times.

{// RCS initiated . . . time until velocity reaches 0.00 . . . 3years\6months\4hours\23minutes\54seconds . . . //}

Eventually, CT33-DP would slow to a halt. It would take some time, yes, but the chassis only had RCS thrust, after all. Fortunately, CT33-DP was a super computer. It could calculate the exact moment to initiate the RCS and just how much thrust would be needed. Be the time CT33-DP got to the very edge of the CT33 Galaxy, it would have reached a velocity of zero. From there, it could begin its slow, but methodical, exploration of the galaxy. The exploration of the galaxy could take decades itself, but the humans knew this. It wasn't an issue for them.

Impact Imminent

Author's Note

So here's chapter 3. Took me awhile to get around to writing it, but I've just been feeling lazy as of late. I don't really have much to say about it here, aside from me apologizing if it seems nonsensical and rushed. I did try to take my time, but ironically enough the time I feel most inclined to write it is when I'm feeling pretty sick. So sorry about that.

Either way, I hope it's somewhat enjoyable.

Impact Imminent

{// approaching CT33 . . . initiating RCS . . . //}

A long two hundred years had passed. CT33-DP had collected data on trillions of planets, stars, comets and asteroids on its voyage. Despite this, it had only used roughly twenty three percent of its available storage. Tens of thousands of yottabytes of storage was overkill, but that's what the humans were good at. Some times.

{// RCS initiated . . . time until velocity reaches 0.00 . . . 3years\6months\4hours\23minutes\54seconds . . . //}

Eventually, CT33-DP would slow to a halt. It would take some time, yes, but the chassis only had RCS thrust, after all. Fortunately, CT33-DP was a super computer. It could calculate the exact moment to initiate the RCS and just how much thrust would be needed. Be the time CT33-DP got to the very edge of the CT33 Galaxy, it would have reached a velocity of zero. From there, it could begin its slow, but methodical, exploration of the galaxy. The exploration of the galaxy could take decades itself, but the humans knew this. It wasn't an issue for them.

As CT33-DP blasted its RCS in the direction opposite of its path, it began to focus its scans on the various planets that would enter it's scanning radius. It was then a planet entered it's range that had immediately set off several metaphorical alarms.

{// life signs detected . . . scan progress . . . 11.31426 % . . . //}

Focusing all of it's artificial attention on the scanning of a planet full of life, CT33-DP failed to pick up on a very peculiar happening. The star that the lively planet orbited began to move unnaturally. As if alive, or controlled by some cosmic force, it begin to circle around the planet to a different position in space entirely. It was then that the machines actual alarms went off, the scan of the planet being cut short as the RCS began to burn to the left, as if attempting to push the probe out of the way of something approaching it.

SMASH

A stray asteroid collided with the side of CT33-DP's chassis, breaching its hull and knocking it off its path entirely. How it wasn't rendered to dust was truly a miracle, considering the mind numbing speed it had been moving. In fact, it seemed to have been move rather slow now. Even slower after colliding with a space rock.

{// hull breached . . . core damaged . . . running diagnostics . . . //}

Fortunately, or in this case, unfortunately, CT33-DP was programmed to repair itself however it could, rather then continuing to operate. Or perhaps such a malfunction was caused by the collision?

{// warning . . . memory core 1 damaged . . . //}
{// warning . . . memory core 2 damaged . . . //}
{// warning . . . memory core 3 damaged . . . //}
{// notice . . . memory core 4 operational . . . //}
{// notice . . . memory core 5 operational . . . //}
{// warning . . . memory core 6 damaged . . . //}
{// warning . . . memory core 7 damaged . . . //}
{// notice . . . memory core 8 operational . . . //}

Now hurtling in a direction completely off from what CT33-DP was meant to be travelling, it tried to adjust its course with the RCS, except-

{// warning . . . propulsion systems damaged . . . //}
{// warning . . . solar panel L damaged . . . //}
{// warning . . . solar panel R damaged . . . //}
{// sending distress signal . . . warning . . . antenna damaged . . . //}

The bad news kept on rolling in. Several of the essential components of CT33-DP were damaged. How could this have happened? CT33-DP was supposed to be able to avoid collisions such as this. Should it be faced with an obstacle, it would have been able to adjust its course days ahead of the obstacle. Neither CT33-DP or the scientists who created it would have expected an asteroid to unnaturally throw itself towards and into the probe. That was one of the reasons why the chassis of CT33-DP was so primitive. It didn't have defenses in place because there was no danger that a super computer couldn't calculate itself around. The alien life found throughout the universe was all just as or less advanced than the humans. Alien life was rare, but they didn't pose any real threat. There certainly wasn't any that could go undetected and launch a sneak attack of CT33-DP, either.

{// warning . . . impact imminent . . . //}

With most of the other reported systems of CT33-DP damaged, it didn't take a super computer to tell you that the exploration of the CT33 Galaxy was moments from complete failure. No human or super computer, no matter how intelligent, could have predicted a star to suddenly begin moving, along with other planets and asteroids following suit. It was unheard of. Even the most bizarre theories within the different scientific rings of the human could come up with something such as that. That sort of theory would be brushed off as delusional. There was a lot the humans were capable of, yes, but no amount of preparation and dedication could produce a technology to relocate a star. Small planets? Easy enough, so long as they were roughly the size of earth. Though even that would normally end in that planets destruction.

Meanwhile, on the Moon

Still slumped on the ground, tears in her eyes and a looming sense of worthlessness now lingering over her, Luna chose simply not to move. She couldn't even if she wanted to. She felt no desire to do anything. All of her energy had been drained from her. She remembered what had happened, and what led to her being where she was. She wished she hadn't remembered at all. She would have preferred to keep on wandering the barren gray surface, ignorant to the cause of her situation. Unfortunately, she wouldn't have the time to wallow in her newfound self hated and sadness.

A faint, albeit still noticeable growl filled Luna's drooped ears. With a twitch, the stood at attention as the noise grew louder. Weakly lifting her head from the dusty surface of the moon, she look to the starry sky. Almost perfectly in the middle of the sun, It was there she saw a small speck.

The speck grew closer.

And closer.

And closer.

It didn't take long for Luna to realize that the growing speck was headed straight towards her, and it was fast. Whatever it was, it was about to crash down exactly where she was sulking. And so, as quickly as she could, Luna clambered to her hooves and began a quick, albeit strained, gallop to the side, all the while keeping her eyes on the object. Once she was at what she assumed to be a safe distance, that being ten or so meters, she erected a magical barrier around her, almost as if out of instinct.

Watching the object through teary eyes, Luna waited for it to make its landing.

A few seconds passed by.

Then a few more.

And a few more.

Whatever it was, it was taking longer then Luna would have expected. Either it was really big, or it wasn't actually getting closer. It didn't take long for Luna to realize which it was as a shadow began to creep into view. It happened to be falling directly in front of the sun. The shadow grew larger and larger. It seemed as if this thing, whatever it was, was rather large. Feeling a little unsafe, Luna finally puts her magic to proper use. Turning around, she spotted a ridge relatively far away.

As the growling of the object grew even louder, Lunas horn began to glow, though only for a moment as she teleported up to the ridge she had spotted. Was it excessively far? Probably. Though it was clear Luna wasn't quite herself since waking up on the moon, so naturally her judgement wouldn't quite be as solid as it once would have been.

Turning back around, she located the object once again. She watched intensely as it hurtled to the moons surface, though it did take some ten or so seconds to actually impact. That was Lunas prediction anyways. It was strange how, despite being so far away, it seemed to create such a clear shadow. Or was that all in her head? She was unsure.

Though none of that mattered, when all of the sudden-

CRASH

To Be Continued

Spoiler for next chapter below

With a loud crash, the object impacted the moons surface, a large cloud of moon dust and rock exploding out from the impact zone accompanied by a small fireball lighting the otherwise colorless surface of the moon. Luna assumed it was some stray asteroid, and so she was about to turn tail and leave. She was going to go back to her sulking when suddenly-

BREEEP BREEEP BREEEP

What sounded like some sort of... Alarm began to sound? It was a strange and unfamiliar sound, but it felt oddly similar to some spells that had been cast on some doors of the Royal Palace. Should they be opened by strangers, an alarm would sound, alerting the guards. The strange sound aside, Luna looked to the crashed object and squinted her eyes, as if to really focus on it. It was a... Tube?

The meeting of the Mare and the Machine

Author's Note

Sorry if this seems a little (or a lot) rushed and incoherent. Admittedly it's been some time since I last wrote anything so I'm already pretty rusty, and I figured that the only way to refine it would be to just write this chapter and release it.

Not sure when I'll work on the next chapter, but hopefully I won't be gone for as long as I was for this one.

The meeting of the Mare and the Machine

With a loud crash, the object impacted the moons surface, a large cloud of moon dust and rock exploding out from the impact zone accompanied by a small fireball lighting the otherwise colorless surface of the moon. Luna assumed it was some stray asteroid, and so she was about to turn tail and leave. She was going to go back to her sulking when suddenly-

BREEEP BREEEP BREEEP

What sounded like some sort of... Alarm began to sound? It was a strange and unfamiliar sound, but it felt oddly similar to some spells that had been cast on some doors of the Royal Palace. Should they be opened by strangers, an alarm would sound, alerting the guards. The strange sound aside, Luna looked to the crashed object and squinted her eyes, as if to really focus on it. It was a... Tube? As the moon dust cleared, Luna could see whatever it was. It was a metallic tube with strange blue panels protruding out of either side of it, though they looked damaged? What was this strange thing?

{// notice . . . lifeform detected . . . //}
{// external scanner damaged . . . adjusting . . . //}

It was then a strange, almost metallic whine emitted from the strange object, Luna folding and grasping her ears in pain. Whatever the sound was, it was loud and piercing. A small piece of the objects shell popped off, an odd creaking and scrapping taking the place of the metallic whine. Though her ears were still ringing, Luna caught glimpse of a small light coming from the new, perfectly square opening in the shell of the object.

{// scanning lifeform . . . please wait . . . //}

The small strange light was the core of CT33-DP. Thanks to it being constructed almost entirely out of nanomachines, it could take any form it needed to. And at the moment, it chose to cut a hole in it's already damaged chassis and peak through it. Though only the very core of CT33-DP, which acts as a mechanical eye for it, CT33-DP had taken on a four legged form for traversal.

As Luna stared at the strange light, and the light stared back, the color of blue it emitted almost the same as Luna's very own mane, she couldn't help but feel concerned and cautious. Whatever this thing was, it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was clearly studying her. But why? What would it do? Was it dangerous? Questions she wouldn't get the answers to. At least not yet.

{// scan complete . . . data archived . . . //}
{// notice . . . planet scan complete . . . //}
{// notice . . . localized earth-like atmosphere detected . . . //}
{// O2%27.81 . . . //}

Odd. That's what one would think to learn that this barren, gray space rock with gravity comparable to earths moon, would have oxygen. In fact, it was even more odd that the oxygen bubble seemed to radiate from one point. The very spot this alien life form was standing. What's more, that alien lifeform seemed rather similar to a species of earth. An equine.

{// anomaly detected . . . activating primary A.I. Core . . . //}

Suddenly, the light from the small opening in the strange shell disappeared. Or rather, turned off. The lesser artificial intelligence that was only meant to handle the essentials of CT33-DP's journey was not equipped to deal with what would be considered an anomaly - something impossible. And so, the primary A.I. Core was booting up. The true DT33-DP. The pride and joy of human science and engineering.

>>> Primary Core Activation Complete <<<

It was then the light from the hole began flickering, though this time it was purple, rather then blue. The primary core now having been activated, CT33-DP's entire way of operation would now change. A sort of research and development mode. With the correct resources, CT33-DP would be more then capable to rebuilt it's chassis and components, and even launch itself back on it's path to continue it's journey.

>>> Consciousness Core Activation Complete <<<

One of the many features of the primary A.I. core was a sort of artificial consciousness. One wouldn't expect such a thing to be necessary for an artificial intelligence, but the humans knew through their own research that no A.I., no matter how genius and perfect, was capable of harboring the same curiosity and ingenuity that humans are capable of through their conscience. It was for that reason that one was given to CT33-DP, should the need for it ever arise. As artificial as it may be, there would be no doubt in it's creators minds that it would be the very thing that saved it and it's mission.

Suddenly, the purple light from the core grew solid, no longer flickering. All the while, Luna was now crouched down behind a nearby moon rock. The sudden change in the color and the flickering of the strange thing in the hole of the odd tube was enough to spook her, just a bit. In fact, it seemed as if this strange light was occasionally... Blinking?

>>> Memory Cores 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 appear to be damaged. <<<

CT33-DP declared internally. It was strange. Even though it was a machine, CT33-DP felt alive. Which was even more strange, because it didn't know it could feel. It's form of processing no longer resembled lines of code, but seemed more coherent and human in the way it would describe incoming information to itself.

>>> Opening recent archived files. <<<
>>> Odd equine found on the surface of this moon. It seems to generate a field of oxygen. <<<

CT33-DP essentially spoke to itself internally. While it's human creators did intend for it to function the way it currently was, CT33-DP itself was unfamiliar and confused by it. Confusion. Another emotion it didn't know it had. Despite this, it continued with it's analysis.

>>> Approaching the anomaly. <<<

It was then the small purple light emerged from the hole in the object, Luna, who was still peaking out from behind a rock, flinched at. She was not expecting it to move, much less appear almost like a spider as it moved towards her.

As it moved towards her?

Realizing that whatever it was was skittering in her direction, Luna began to panic. Unfurling her wings, with one quick flap Luna was in the air, or the lack there of.

The strange spider like creature stopped, it's purple eye following Lunas movements. After a few seconds of silence, Luna let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like she was safe as long as she was high off the ground. Unfortunately for her, she would quickly find her judgement to be wrong.

>>> The anomaly is flying. So shall I. <<<

"I"? Why was it referring to itself as "I", it thought to itself. The thought of thinking was a strange thought in and of itself.

Nonetheless, the nanomachine legs of the spiderlike CT33-DP retracted, though it hovered there in place. Thanks to the fact that it was made of nanomachines, it could fly, only made easier by the low gravity of the moon. With it's mechanical eye still on the strange flying equine - luna, it then began to float up towards her.

To Be Continued