Tim widens his tiny brown eyes at the screen, “What the hell is that?”

Gary at his right says, “I uh, I don’t know! I know this is where the leap point is supposed to be, but now, there’s nothing there!”

I finally speak up, “Does this mean we’re lost in space?”

Tim turns right towards me, “No, Misty! We’re not lost in space!” before turning back left towards the other one, “Gary, are we lost in space?”

“I uh… Hang on!” The lighter creature says, before looking down at his control panel, and taps some buttons there, “I think we might be uh, I don’t think we know where we are?”

“So in other words, we’re lost!” I matter-of-factly state!

Tim turns back towards me, “We’re not lost, Misty! We just don’t know where we are!”

“Right! You don’t have hair! You know how that’s also called bald? We don’t know where we are! You know what that’s also called?”

Gary finally speaks up, “Look! I think we’re in the right place! I’m saying, everything else checks out! It’s just that the leap point isn’t there!” while keeping his appendages at his front, to explain.

“Which means either somepony moved or destroyed it, or you’re not exactly in the right place, despite everything else, being right!” I say, before frowning, “Actually, that second thing is unlikely!” and stare back at them, “What are we gonna do? I can’t go back to Equestria!”

Tim stares at me, “Why can’t you go back to Equestria?”

Gary says, “Uh, I’m gonna have to check a couple of things here. I might have an idea of what happened?”

Tim looks at him, “You do that, and I’ll deal with Misty!”

There’s those words again! Dealing with me, as if I’m a problem!

Gary nods, “Right! You go deal with Misty, Mr. Therapist, and I’ll be in the engine room for a bit!”

Tim smiles at me, “Come on, Misty! Lets talk!”

“Not like we have anything better to do while Gary works?”

<*****>

FROWN ENGAGED!

“What do you mean, what do I want to do? I just want to be with you! My best friends!”

SMILE ENGAGED!

Sunny sighs, “I know that, but don’t you have some preferred activities or hobbies or things you like to do”

FROWN ENGAGED!

“Uh, not really! I did just get onto the planet two days ago!”

Sunny nods, “Okay, granted! Uh, hmm… “ she ponders when she brings her hoof up to her chin…

Suddenly, Pipp’s eyes grow bright and she widens them to use, while moving her face forward, “Why don’t we sing karaoke together?”

“But I don’t know any songs?”

Sunny smiles, “Oh, don’t worry about that Starbeam! There’s a teleprompter!”

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

And why do I have feelings now?

<*****>

The dark creature sat across the table from me, and smiled, “Okay, Misty! Lets start from the top! Why don’t you want to travel back to Equestria?”

“My psychological health seems to be important to you?” I state, while observing the alien carefully…

Tim nods, “Well, it is! For starters, they stressed that it’s important that we remain amiable during this transfer phase, in case any future diplomatic dealings may be possible! Well, that and we’re actually going to return you eventually, anyway, and we wouldn’t want you to take back stories of the horrible humans, or anything like that!” and smiles…

“And you’re qualified?”

He sighs, “Well, I’m more qualified than the average astronaut, anyway! My minor was in psych!”

I guess that means he’s qualified? And what does a little psych even look like, anyway? I sigh, “Okay, it’s because of Queen Opaline… “ and breathe in and out again… “I missed my morning chores because of you, and well, just me being gone for so long will only make her mad at me!”

He taps the little tablet, and keeps his gaze on the screen, while saying to me, “You’d think she’d be happy to see the real you, if you’d been missing for a time?”

I breathe out of my nostrils, and stare at him, “Um, yeah, you would… “

“You think maybe this Queen Opaline person… “

“Pony!” I correct him!

He smiles “This Queen Opaline pony, might not be the best person in the world?”

I widen my eyes, “W-what do you mean? Opaline took me in, when I had nowhere to go, and she helped me! Opaline is a nice pony!”

“Well, the whole time you’ve talked about her, you’ve only said that she’d get mad at you for this, or such and such would infuriate her! I’m just saying, even if she did offer you a place to stay, she wasn’t very kind to you!”

I frown, “How would you know so much about this, Tim?”

He looks down at the tablet and taps the screen with those strange tiny appendages, “Lets just say I’ve been there before!”

<*****>

I’m going to die! This is the end of my short, meaningless, robotic life! I think to myself, while holding the mic in my right hoof, and staring up at the screen, and Sunny andPipp sit at the table, with big grins on their faces…

“Don’t worry Starbeam! You totally got this!” Sunny shouts from the left.

“Hey, just sing with the music, and you’ll do just fine!” Pipp adds from the other side.

I wonder if I’ll explode?

Suddenly, the lyrics to a generic sounding pop fight song, begin to scroll down the screen, of the teleprompter, overhead, with a background of dark gray, I’m guessing to make it easier to see, as I stood there on stage at the karaoke bar…

I open my mouth to sing…

<*****>

I frown, “So, Opaline wasn’t nice?”

Tim sighs while tapping his tablet some more, “Well, if what you say is true, I’d say it’s more akin to many of the more abusive dynamics, we studied in class!”

I normalize my mouth and clear my throat, “How so, Tim?”

He brings his tiny brown eyes to me, and says, “Well, for one thing, she hardly seems empathetic to your missing parents, and for another, the way she speaks to you is far too abrasive!”

“You don’t know about ponies!”

He nods, “But I do know a thing or two about the mind and how it’s designed to work, Misty… I know that you shouldn’t have to endure that… “

What is this weirdo talking about? I ponder in my mind, before asking, “What?”

He smiles, “You deserve to be around people er, ponies who care about you… Ponies are social creatures, and humans like myself are the same way!”

“Humans? Is that what you’re called?”

He nods, “Right! I’m a human, and you’re a pony! But from our observations, we’re not terribly different!”

<*****>

“That was the strangest rendition of Battle Punk I’ve ever heard!” Pipp states, matter-of-factly, as she sits on the right side of the table…

SMILE ENGAGED!

“But still did good, I hope?”

Pipp’s eyes widen, “Well, it was a unique cover, and your rhythm needs work, but I think you can get the hang of it!

NEW FOLDER CREATED: KARAOKE LESSONS

Wait, what?

Sunny smiles, “You know, I think it was awesome, and I’ll tell you why! Starbeam could sing the song, in a unique and original way, simply because she’d never heard it before!”

Pipp stares at Sunny wide-eyed, from across the table, as the waitress on the other side of the table deals with a stallion, “That’s a good point! These songs are brand new and never heard before to her, because she just got on the planet a couple of days ago!”*

I stare at the pink pony, “So it’s a good thing that I’m new?”

The orange pony replies, “I certainly think so!”

Pipp smiles at me, “Yeah, Starbeam! You’re like a breath of fresh air!”

SMILE ENGAGED!

Good thing I can’t blush!

Wait, what is happening to me?

<*****>

“We’re gonna die in the distant future, Tim! We’re gonna die with ponies!”

The darker human stares at his lighter cohort, “Calm down, Gary!” and raises his right appendage to a pointy position, “I got a solution!”

Gary’s shoulders drop, as he sits on the blue plastic concave chair on his side of the table, and he adjuss his gaze at the other alien, “Oh? Do tell, Tim?”

He gulps, “Well, we have the clock there to tell us EXACTLY when we are, right? Lets just go back to Equestria! The ponies can help us get back with their magic!”

I stare at Tim, “Time travel magic? Is that even possible?”

Tim stares at me, “I don’t know, but it’s all we got! Without that leap point, there’s no other way to get home!”

I stare at Tim carefully… “So, would you say we’re lost in space, Tim?”

Tim finally cracks a smile, “Well, not exactly! I mean, we still know exactly where we are! It’s just not the right place!”

I blink, “Well, lets head back to Equestria! Uh, can we go to Maretime Bay, this time? Um, I don’t want to go back to that castle!”

Tim’s eyes widen with understanding, “Well, right! No more castle, and no more Opaline!”

I smile, because I suddenly think that maybe, just maybe, things are gonna work out after all…

Well, assuming time travel magic is even possible?

<*****>

Sunny stares at Pipp from the right side of the table, with it’s yellow cloth, and small white cups of cocoa on top, and sighs, “Yeah, I understand Starbeam can’t consume food and drinks like us, and I gotta admit, it’s getting less weird, now that I’m growing used to it… “

Pipp frowns at Sunny, “I know what you mean!”

SMILE ENGAGED!

I stare at Sunny, “Look, Sunny! We don’t need to go over it a thousand times either! I’m a robot, and don’t eat or drink! Simple as that! I’m not the same as you! I’m different! But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to have a nice cocoa, okay?”

Sunny frowns, “Starbeam, you seem to be developing a personality?”

EYES WIDEN!

Wait, we’re doing eyes now?

“What do you mean?”

She sighs, “I mean, you actually made a joke in the bar earlier! A very bad one, I might add, but the attempt was valiant!”

NERVOUS LAUGH ENGAGED!

I chuckle slightly, “Well, I’m trying to be like you now!”

“And Starbeam, you’re closer to us than you realize!”

Pipp turns her head back to the yellow pony, as I repeat, “What do you mean?”

Sunny smiles, “Well, do you know how hard ponies always try to fit in and be like the crowd so they can have social interaction?”

“Well, social interaction was my purpose, remember? I’m here to interact with the ponies, in order to collect information!”

Sunny’s smile widens, “Right! You want to fit in and learn about ponies! Don’t you see how that’s not so different from everypony else?”

FROWN ENGAGED

“What?”

Her view lowers, “You’re not just an android, Starbeam! You’re a metal pony!”

PROCESSING INFORMATION…

Suddenly, Pipp’s ornate cellular device begins to vibrate on the table!

Pipp retrieves it with her hoof, and stares at the screen, “It’s my sister!” before tapping the screen with her hoof, and bringing it to her ear, “Yeah, Zipp?”

“Yes, there is an android… No, we didn’t tell you, because we didn’t want to get the Brighthouse excited, or anything like that! We were giving her some time to integrate… “

Pipp sighs, “Yeah, I know you of all ponies would be interested in that sort of thing, and… “

Zipp cuts her off!

Pipp frowns, “Uh, yeah! She’s here! Why?”

Pipp hears her sister saying something on the other end of the line…

She sighs again, “Okay, I understand! I’ll let her know! Bye!” before putting her device back on the table, tapping it with her hoof, and staring at me, “Starbeam! Zipp Storm wants to meet you!”

(To be continued… )

Author's Note

*I study Zen philosophy, and this is known as “beginner’s mind.” The point is to set aside the preconceived notions developed from experience, and be ready to absorb information with a clear head. In this case, since Starbeam had never heard the songs before, she had no experience, and was therefore free to make her own versions, and sing the way she believed they should sound. This means her versions will be especially unique. Like an unusual cover, I’d imagine?