Of the skies and stars

Of the skies and stars
By
Kippershy

Surprise of survival

Ringing filled the world around me, a constant ringing sound that overpowered everything else inside my head.
Was this death? A darkness that surrounded you and made your ears ring for eternity? I really hoped not, death was horrible
enough without this.
Slowly working up the courage to open my eyes, it had turned out I wasn't dead at all.
My spaceship had indeed crashed, but I was far from dead, for now.

Warning lights galore shone, their glaring red beans glistening in my barely opened eyes, whispering their dangers as I tried to make sense of what had happened.
As the moments passed I noticed now that the computer was telling me that all the automatic crash landing sequences had successfully deployed, leaving my craft capable of little more than basic life support protocols and accessing the primary computer systems.

"No..." I muttered to myself, if only to hear a voice. "This... can't be."

But it was.
Through a miraculous series of events that had been born from forethought and tragic history, the engineers had designed the cockpit of my ship to withstand a crash landing in the event of there being no way to smoothly return to the ground when I returned home.

...Home, that was when it hit me the hardest. With the ship broken into god knows how many pieces and nowhere near the proper tools to repair even the main part let alone reassemble the first stage boosters even if I did have the fuel... it was hopeless, I was trapped.

I would never see home again.
I knew the risk was there, that had always been a part of my worries but I'd always chosen to put them behind me for the benefit of science and mankind.
Still, facing the reality of it all was daunting. Knowing a risk is there and seeing that risk come to tear your world apart...
All I had left was the computer filled with entertainment.

The thoughts of the life left I could never see again rushed to the front of my mind.
My family who had given me a caring, loving background supportive of all the choices I had ever made, good and bad.
Friends and colleagues who stood by me through thick and thin, giving me the friendships I leant on as times required them to be there.
The ex-wife who I had left behind, separated only so she could live her life without guilt if she moved on or if things went wrong... as they had.

Turning the media computer on, I set it to play different landscapes of earth along with their appropriate soundtracks.
Though it only made me feel more homesick and helpless, it felt like I had no choice. If I could never see earth again, I'd wanted to pretend I could, this one last time.

Tears fell to my knees as I knelt down, the overwhelming despair taking control of my actions.
For hours, I sat in that same position. Not looking up, not checking any of the read-outs and preliminary reports of the possible atmosphere around me.
For hours I would cry, feeling more alone than I ever had before in my entire life.

Because now, I really was.

*** *** ***

The echoing of the objects landing filled the air for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was only closer to less than a minute.
With more force than even the biggest of dragons could produce, a large gathering of trees collapsed under the blow before starting a small fire.

As if they'd been waiting all along, the Wonderbolts streaked through the skies above and placed a whole mess of clouds above the crash site, blasting it with rain until the fire was extinguished.
It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen! Not only had something strange come down from the night sky, but the Wonderbolts had been ready in case it landed over Equestrian soil!
All around me, other mares fainted as they saw the likes of Soarin work his magic with the clouds above.

Everypony drew close to the crash site, though nopony dared to actually approach the strange object.

"What is it?" Somepony asked.

"I don't know. What I'd like to know is where it came from." Another answered almost under their breath, obviously not taking note of how they spoke as they stood awestruck by the mysterious thing that had come from the night sky.

As everypony stood around with worried looks and the tension rose, I decided to stand tall and declare what I knew. "It's from the stars. I've been tracking it since last night, though I have no idea where it came from past that."

The voice of an old buck came from the middle of the crowd, a voice I knew well. "Well that much is a little obvious, seeming as it's nothing we'd ever find here in Equestria and given the way it landed, it has to be something that fell from the highest levels of the sky... but... where did it come from there? There's never been a meteorite look like this."

My old astronomy teacher stood there with his white mane looking just as frazzled as it always had when we were both younger and his coat that same old dusty brown, though the years had served to make me look more beautiful as I reached marehood, they had given him a winkle at the corners of his eyes and mouth.
Without a second thought I went and wrapped my hooves around his shoulders, it had been too long since I'd seen him.

"Starstruck! You're here in Coltshire? Why?"

With a chuckle and a small nod, he happily gave me answers. "I was informed of the strange object this morning, came here as fast as I could after working out the trajectory and estimated landing position. I guessed it to be a little further out from here, though. Didn't expect the, quite frankly, interesting yet terrifying acceleration dampening systems."

"You mean the parachutes?" I asked.

"Yes." He began. "As much as it scares me to admit, they were obviously, purposefully, made to slow down the descent of this object. Though I am no princess, this much is something I am sure of. Which begs the question... what is inside?"
"Inside?" Now he had me worried! I had never considered the possibility of there being something inside this thing!
"Again, yes. Think of it this way; if you have something that will be risking a heavy landing at high speeds, would you give it preventative measures to slow it down if it were nothing of value? Would you bother to try ensure the safety of the object if it wasn't transporting... something?"

Thinking about his words further, he was right. There had to be something inside, though now everypony was too frightened to approach and find out what it could possibly be, if it was the case at all.

In silence we stood as the number of ponies slowly dwindled until it was just me and Starstuck.
Gently he gave me a small smile, but even still I could see the worry and pain in his eyes.
"I... don't know what to do about this." He admitted to me quietly. "I've contacted the Royal Guard about the matter, though the parachutes hadn't deployed at the time. I worry for what could be inside, Midnight."

Like a child I found my voice turning almost into a high pitched squeak as I spoke quietly. "What... what if it's some crazy stunt somepony decided to pull, what if they're hurt?"
Her just shook his head though, pointing to the symbols on the side.
"They aren't pony symbols, Midnight. We both know it. Besides, nopony in Equestria has that sort of technology to build this.. perhaps nopony at all..."

With a gasp, I understood exactly what he was implying and wondered the same thing myself, though to find my old teacher was considering the same possibility was astounding to me.

"Are... are you saying you too think it could... ya know?"
"Be an alien life form?" He interjected.
Meekly I nodded, not wanting to repeat the phrase for fear of prying ears.
He sighed before answering, another small nod. "Perhaps, perhaps. Some ponies would call us mad for even considering that, you know?"
Nodding back, I knew all too well how much taunting I got over my hobby as it was, without conspiracy theories added into the fray.

Looking at him once more, I sought his guidance.

"So, what do we do?" Asking just like old times.

He took a moment to consider the options, though we didn't seem to have many. After a few seconds of staring at the object, he turned back to me.

"I'll inform the guard of the update... as for the rest of it? We watch and wait."

So that was it... while he went off to tell the higher authorities, I would stand guard in front of... whatever it was.
On the surface I hoped it was nothing more than pure coincidence... something that had fallen from the stars and skies and crashed into Equestria, perhaps something from another empire done as some scientific research or perhaps even a joke.

Though another part, deeper inside of me, hoped for something different.
Another part of me hoped there was something inside... the options to learn more about the night sky would be endless if only it were so.

With that, I sat and waited. I didn't know what for, or how long, but I waited all the same.