Why Ponies Aren't in Spaceby RaptorChaptersEpisode 1: Denials; Chapter 2: The PrototypeEpisode 1: Denials; Chapter 3: A.R.C.Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 4: The WardenEpisode 1: Denials; Chapter 5: AnswersEpisode 2: Threats; Chapter 1: Research & DevelopmentEpisode 1: Denials; Chapter 1: The BreakthroughEpisode 1: Denials; Chapter 2: The PrototypeEpisode I: Denials Chapter II: The Prototype How many are there? Two. …I see. And what of the Great Weapon? We only have three left to confirm. Good. … What? They aren’t doing anything. They’re peaceful. Nothing is completely peaceful. *sigh*, look, we’ve established that the best way to go about- ‘-to go about the situation is suppression,’ yes, I know. You’ve seen them. Until they’ve become developed, we will deny them. They seem developed to me. In technology. In everything else… they’re primitive. There was a loud CLANG racketing in the workshop as a large, curved plate of metal flung towards a tall pillar-like structure in the center of the room. It landed perfectly in line with the cylindrical shape, until it started to fall backward. Star Gazer ran up to it and slammed it back into place. He gritted his teeth as he pulled down the welding mask and took out the welder from his greasy work apron pocket. He turned it on, and started welding the hull plate into place. When he was done, he dropped the welder, pulled off his mask and ran to the other side of the construct. He leaped up to a scaffold and jumped up to a cross beam, which he grabbed with his front hooves. He swung his back hooves forward and used them to grab an oven-sized machine. He swung his hooves back, tossing the machine into the construct. He let go of the cross beam and dropped to the scaffold as the machine landed in the cylinder with an even louder CLANG. He spun around and jumped into the construct. He grabbed the machine and grunted as he shifted it into place. He reached deep down into the construct and pulled up a bundle of wires, which he hooked up to the machine in the correct places. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and leaped out of the construct. He landed firmly on the floor and closed his eyes, referring to his mental checklist. “Let’s see, I've done… engine… battery… outer hull… converter…” He paused. “Thrusters, I did thrusters…” He bit his lip as he continued to think. “Oh, yes, I did auxiliary fuel cells… okay, I need to work on interior hull. WAIT- no, I need to do the wiring first. Which means I have to install the spell modifier, the air compressors, the lights, the computer, the sensors, the comms- all that stuff, and that means I need to finish the base structure before anything.” He facehoofed. “Ugh. Don’t get ahead of yourself, Gazer. You’re getting too excited.” He sighed. “Alright. Now, where are those titanium beams…?” \v/\V/\v/ Crystal Sky was walking home from lunch. She thought about yesterday. About how poor Star Gazer’s dream got crushed. She decided to pay him a visit, to see if he needed any cheering up. She flew up to Canterlot towers and made her way down the halls to Gazer’s laboratory. She knocked on the door and called out to him. No one answered. His door was locked. That means he was either asleep, or wasn't home. He always left his door unlocked. He was crazy like that. At this time of day, Sky knew he couldn't be asleep, so she figured he was in the workshop. She knocked on the steel-plated door twice. “Gazer?” she called. “You in there?” “Yeah, I’m-” There was a loud clatter. “…in here! Come in.” When she entered, the first thing that caught her eye was Star Gazer hanging upside down from a crossbeam. He had a blank expression, like everything was normal. She smirked and giggled. “That’s a new one,” she said. “Heh, yeah it is,” Gazer said with a smile. “I was trying to get something particularly heavy up onto my construct. Had to do a lot of leverage.” Crystal raised an eyebrow. “Why didn't you just use your horn…?” she asked. Gazer looked up (or down, rather) at his horn. “Oh. Yeah. Forgot I had that.” He dropped down, hooves first. “But, you know how I am with levitation. I can’t quite get it to work. I like to use physics. With levitation, I’m always trying to get it in one spot, and it goes too far, or not far enough, oh, you know how it is.” “No, actually, I don’t,” Crystal said matter-of-factly. “I-I really… wouldn’t know.” She fluttered her wings. “Um, right, anyways, what can I do for you?” Gazer started walking towards the central construct. “Well, I just thought I’d stop by, and… y’know, see how you’re doing.” Crystal walked forward a bit and looked at all the crossbeams and scaffolds and planks, pipes, precariously placed machines… and the large familiar structure in the center of the room. “Um, what’re you working on…?” Gazer started climbing a group of scaffolds coiling around the construct. “Um, weeeell, you know, a… new idea I’ve had… recently…” He continued climbing with a concerned expression on his face. Crystal’s eyes widened. “This is the space craft, isn't it?!” she cried. “I thought Princess Celestia disapproved of the project.” Gazer popped up over the top of the ship to look at her. “Well… yeah, technically, she did, but… I mean-” “What’re you doing, you crazy colt?!” Crystal yelled with a stamp of her hoof. “First you jeopardize Canterlot towers with your crazy furnace contraption, now you’re leading an illegal undercover space program?!” “Hey, the furnace would’ve worked fine, I wasn’t even there when that one guy-” “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!” Gazer sighed. “Look, I’m not gonna launch the thing. These are my parts, and I can do whatever the hay I want with them. I’m just making a model prototype. I just… can’t get it out of my head.” Sky stared at him for a while. Finally she sighed and said, “Alright, Star. I understand. Just… promise me you won’t do anything stupid.” Gazer looked at her with a soft smile. “I promise.” Crystal nodded, turned around, and left the messy workshop, closing the door behind her. Gazer got a glum look on his face. He sighed, hopped down... and slowly locked the door. \v/\V/\v/ Hours passed. He never left the workshop. Noon turned to dusk, dusk turned to night. There was no word. Nothing. Night turned to dawn. Dawn turned to noon. Noon once again turned to dusk. Not a word. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer gasped as he awoke in a cold sweat. His eyes bulged, his pupils dilated, his hearing muffled. Gazer could only hear his steady deep breathing. His vision was blurred. He blinked, slowly and exaggeratedly. He could see a blurry bright light. He continued to breathe heavily. He blinked again, as he attempted to move. His vision was less blurry, and he realized he was lying on his side. He huffed as he attempted to roll over onto his hooves. The sudden change in gravity caused him to cough violently, and his vision blacked out for a moment. He collapsed on his belly, and struggled to get up again. He had almost regained his vision by now, but he could only hear a high-pitched ringing sound. He looked around, slowly and sluggish. He was in his workshop. “Right,” Gazer croaked, shutting his eyes and putting a hoof to his face. “I was working. Did… did I finish…?” He shook his head and looked at the center of the room. There, standing tall and proud, was the very first space craft, 100% complete. Gazer smiled, then laughed. “Heh, well, I guess working 24 hours paid off after all…” Gazer groaned and held his head. “Must’ve passed out.” He looked at his masterpiece once more. “Welp, I sure as hay am not ready to fly it now.” He turned and headed for the door. “I’ll get a good rest… then I’ll work out the details.” He opened the door, and stopped once again to look at his spacecraft. He smiled. Then he closed and locked the door behind him. \v/\V/\v/ The next time Gazer entered the workshop was with a saddlebag on his back, a giant smile on his face and determination in his eyes. He had had a good night’s sleep, a good breakfast, and lots of planning time. He was ready. He worked quickly and cleanly. First he cleared the workshop- pushed all the junk and metal away from the center of the room, giving him and his shuttle some space. Next, he checked and double-checked that everything was in place and that all the systems were functional. He had to make some adjustments yesterday, since the original design required two pilots. Gazer couldn’t ask Crystal to be part of his black ops expedition. He couldn’t do that to her. After he confirmed that all systems were functional, he started fueling the takeoff thrusters and auxiliary fuel. He triple-checked everything from the outside, then quadruple-checked everything from the inside. He took a deep exhale, then powered up the main computer. The lights came on, the screens lit up, and the computer made several affirmative beeps. Gazer smiled and hopped out of the vehicle. He ran to a lever, which he pulled. The roof parted and slowly opened. He then pulled another lever and hopped up next to his spacecraft. The floor in the center of the room started to raise, up through the roof, lifting Gazer and his prototype. His workshop was at the edge of Canterlot, outside the wall, near the cliff face of the giant mountain. When the lift stopped, Gazer climbed back into the shuttle and settled into the vertical pilot seat. He took another deep breath and exhaled. He started the pre-launch diagnostics. :status air_compression -100% COMPLETE :status engine -100% POWER -FULLY FUNCTIONAL -62% HEAT :status fule -ERROR: UNKNOWN COMMAND :status fuel -STAGE 1 THRUSTERS: 100% -PRIMARY THRUSTERS: 100% -AUX FUEL: 100% :status battery -100% CHARGE :status levitation_coils -FULLY FUNCTIONAL -4/4 COILS ACTIVE :status -FULLY FUNCTIONAL -READY FOR LAUNCH :/engage horn_clamp| -ENGAGING. PLEASE REMAIN STILL… Gazer sat motionless while a robotic arm with two hollow clamps extended from the bulkhead. It moved to the center of his head, and the two clamps closed in on his horn, fitting it cleanly and comfortably. -…ENGAGED. READY TO RECEIVE MAGICKA :/engage shipmode iatm -ENGAGING IN-ATMOSPHERE FLIGHT MODE… -ENGAGED. LEVITATION COILS ACTIVE. READY TO RECEIVE MAGICAL COMMANDS. The shuttle jumped up a bit, then started tilting downward, parallel to the ground. Gazer placed his hooves on the two control handles in front of him. When it was done, he took one last deep breath, and said- “That old railing in my lab window is looking pretty safe right about now.” On that note, he thrusted the handles forward, and the shuttle took off straight ahead. He focused his magic on keeping the shuttle’s trajectory and altitude with the levitation coils. He zoomed left and right, across Equestria’s valley, cheering the whole way. Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter. Better, longer chapters are on the way! Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 3: A.R.C.Episode I: Denials Chapter III: A.R.C. Have you seen this one? Which one? That one. Subject 23. Yes. What about it? Do you see how much power it has? …Yes. It isn’t even a full-fledged adult. And…? Do you think it’s good to have so much power in such a barbaric caste system? …I would hardly call it a caste system. Have you seen how much this power can corrupt them? Of course I have. I’m a historian. And? Were we so different? … Power can just as easily corrupt us. It has just as easily corrupted us. Mind what you say. All I’m saying is that we’ve been corrupted in the past. Power can corrupt anything. Exactly. And that’s why we deny them. … Because they are very, very powerful. So... We're afraid. “HahAH!” Gazer yelled as he piloted his never-before tested space shuttle. “Looks like I already got the hang of in-atmosphere flight.” He took a deep breath. “Time to step it up a notch.” :/engage shipmode launch| -ENGAGING ORBITAL LAUNCH SEQUENCE… The shuttle tilted down, picked up some speed, then tilted all the way up. Gazer focused his mind on powering the converter and doubling the engine rate, along with the levitation coils. -ALL THRUSTERS ACTIVE. He hit a button, and the rockets flared up and sent the shuttle soaring up at a tremendous speed. “Yyyyeehooooooo!!” He cheered as he was forced back into his seat. “This is it!” \v/\V/\v/ Princess Celestia wasn’t doing anything in particular. She had just finished some paperwork, and was about to oversee some project in the Canterlot archives. She was about to get up from her throne when a royal guard came rushing in. “Your Highness!” He yelled. “An unidentified object has been spotted flying up into the sky!” Celestia looked out the window. A clouded object was rocketing straight up. “Get A.R.C. in the air immediately,” She ordered. “I want to know what it is, and I want it on the ground.” “Yes, my princess!” The guard ran out of the room and sprinted to the guard barracks. He used his magic to announce loudly, “Attention! This is a code red A.R.C., repeat, a code red A.R.C.!” Several pegasi swiftly put their gear on. “We have an unidentified flying object attempting to leave atmosphere. Identify, ground, and if necessary, neutralize the target. Repeat…” Once the pegasi were all suited up, they exited through a door to a room with an opening roof. They took off flying, and the thrusters on their wings ignited, propelling them up into the air, rocketing towards the unidentified object, one after another. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer’s body started to ache. He realized that he had been tensed up the whole time the ship was rumbling upwards. He relaxed a bit, but kept his hooves on the handles. He sighed. “I’m actually going to do it,” he said to himself. “I’m going into space.” Suddenly, there was a loud CLUNK on the left side of the ship. He looked left, and right there, pressed against the port window, was a wide-eyed Crystal Sky in a high-tech full-body suit. “…What?” “Gazer?!” Crystal said. Gazer narrowed his eyes. “That glass is soundproof…” “I’m hacking your comms unit,” Crystal replied. “Oh… okay.” Gazer looked to the forward window. There was a pause. Crystal quickly shook her head. “Wh- wa- Gazer?! What’re you doing?!” “I’m going to space,” Gazer answered, not looking at her. “What’re you doing?” “You promised me you wouldn’t do anything stupid!” Crystal shouted. “That I did.” “And?!” “A stupid pony would have a reeeaaally hard time with this.” “You disobeyed a direct order from the princess!” “Not necessarily.” Gazer looked at her. “She denied the project. I, afterwards, then created a new, personal project, which just happened to be similar. I made it from my own parts, with my own tools, and my own time. And no one told me I can’t fly it in my own personal airspace.” He looked away again. “Well, I’m telling you,” Crystal said with authority. “By the order of the Ariel Reconnaissance Control, and the princesses of Equestria, land your vehicle and surrender, or there will be dire consequences.” A yellow light went off on the dashboard. Gazer looked at her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Sorry for what?” He gritted his teeth and inhaled. “You’re standing on one of the first stage thrusters.” He pressed a button and the thrusters disengaged from the ship, quickly taking Crystal with them. She flailed her limbs as she fell back, out of sight. Gazer took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said to himself. “Let’s see how maneuverable this baby is…” “Sky! You alright?!” Sonic Boomer asked. “I’m fine,” replied Crystal, regaining her balance. Four metal cylinders fell from the cloud of smoke. “But he’s not giving up easily. We’re gonna have to ground him.” “Understood,” Sonic said. “Wing 5, take up top!” One of the pegasi increased his thrusters and flew up, past the shuttle. “Wing 4 and 6, flanking positions!” Two more flew to either side of it. “2 and 3, tri-pincer move, upward approach!” Crystal, Sonic, and Wing 2 moved to a triangle formation underneath the now-clearing cloud. “On my mark- 3, 2, 1, mark!” The three pegasi shot straight at the shuttle from three different angles. Gazer saw the blips on the radar suddenly close in on him. He calculated which direction would be best to evade them. The pegasus ahead of him wasn’t quite lined up. He left his right side open. Gazer activated the levitation coils and temporarily charged the engines up to 300%. :status engine -298% POWER -OVERDRIVE -195% HEAT He rolled right and shot upward while pitching slightly up. The leading pegasus tried to compensate, but was too slow. Gazer blew right past him. The three pegasi closing in on each other quickly changed course and circled around. “Wing 6! Wing 6!” Wing 5 shouted. Wing 6 shot upwards after the shuttle, which had strayed into his line of sight. Gazer saw him coming, and quickly rolled left, followed by a leftward yaw, causing the pegasus to miss. Knowing he drifted back into the range of the others, Gazer quickly rolled more left, then did a hard pitch up, evading the entire crowd. “Formation!” Sonic shouted. The pegasi quickly followed the shuttle. Much to their surprise, as they attempted to move to the new location, Gazer rolled right and did another yaw, passing the pegasi and returning to the original position. He reduced the power back down to 100%. :status fuel| -STAGE 1 THRUSTERS: [DISENGAGED] -PRIMARY THRUSTERS: 73% -AUX FUEL: 100% It took a while for the pegasi to compensate. The blue and white sky began to darken. They were getting dangerously high. “We’re running out of time…” Wing 2 said with concern in her voice. “Wings, surround!” Sonic ordered. The pegasi moved quickly until they surrounded the ship. “Scatter! Hit him from all sides, don’t stop moving, and don’t let up!” Suddenly the pegasi started flying in random directions, some straight at Gazer, some in the opposite direction. “Uh-oh,” Gazer muttered, “welp, this’ll be good.” Gazer broke out into a series of evasive maneuvers, dodging the incoming pegasi left and right. They tried coming at him from all angles, even directly head-on. The prototype was being pushed to its limits. The horn clamp started to spark with every barrel roll, and Gazer started to get light-headed. The sky got even darker, and little sparkling stars started appearing. A beep went off inside Crystal’s helmet. “Dang it,” Sonic said. “Dang it, dang it!” He sighed. “All Wings, fall back.” “But sir-” Crystal started. “Fall back! We can’t go any further. If we do, we won’t be able to make it back alive.” Several pegasi cut their wing engines and started dropping out of the sky. “We’ll… just have to let this one go.” “What?! No, we can’t-” “Fall back, Sky! That’s an order!” Crystal hesitated for a moment. She was the last one pursuing the ship. She stared at it, then looked away and dropped down. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer watched the last blip move off of the radar. They obviously weren’t suited for outer space. Gazer smiled to himself and relaxed. The last of the blue sky faded away, revealing the shining stars woven in the black sky. His smile slowly faded. “Well, I’m officially an outlaw,” he whispered to himself. “I don’t know why Celestia would outlaw… this. But she did.” He sighed. “So… this is my dream.” He gazed out the forward window. “To see the stars up close.” He looked out the starboard window, at his home planet, above the stratosphere, for the first time. “…Alone. I can never go back home. Never have friends, family… I’ll never get a chance to actually use my invention to help society. I’ve accomplished my dream.” His expression turned sad. “…Was it worth it…?” \v/\V/\v/ Sonic Boomer entered the throne room, still in his suit, but with his helmet tucked under his left foreleg. His A.R.C. team followed. Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne, with a worried look on her face. Once he approached the princess, he bowed his head and said, “Your Highness… I regret to report that the unidentified object was a space shuttle, and that it was able to leave atmosphere, despite our best efforts. We were exiting the atmosphere, and I gave the order to retreat. I take full responsibility-” “Who was it?” Celestia asked. There was a pause as Sonic looked at her, confused. “Who was in the shuttlecraft?” “We believe it was Dr. Star Gazer Cosmo, Your Majesty,” Sonic replied. Celestia was quiet for a while. Then she narrowed her eyes and looked at Sonic’s team. “You gave the order to retreat to all of your team members?” “Yes…” Sonic replied warily. She looked at him. “Then where is Crystal Sky…?” \v/\V/\v/ Gazer cut the engines. He just wanted to remain in orbit for a while. To look over what he’s done, what he can do, what he wants to do, what he should do, what he will do, and most importantly, what he is doing. Even in space, he continued to do what he did best. Star Gazer gazed at the stars. Star Gazer- gazer of stars. He considered going to the moon. Just to finish what he started. But he decided against it. He decided to just float. Maybe I can change her mind, he thought. Maybe I can find valuable resources in some asteroids or something, then bring them back, and prove that it really is a good idea. He frowned. Wait. I don’t have the proper mining equipment. And I can’t go back to get any. He crossed his forelegs. One thing still bothers me, though. Why?! Why would the princess go through so much trouble to keep me out of space…? Why would I have to be forced to break the law just to test my new prototype…? I just don’t understand it. He sighed and sat there for a moment. His peaceful silence was interrupted, however, when a blip appeared on his radar. It was coming from below him, and it was coming up fast. He powered up the engines, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to move in time. He braced for impact. There was a CLUNK and a large shudder throughout the ship. Then came the noise of a steady clanking sound, slowly making its way up toward the front of the shuttle. Gazer just remained sitting there, frozen, listening. Then Crystal’s face popped into view of the port window. Gazer looked at her. Her expression had changed from angry to… sad. “Star…” she said quietly over the intercom. She only called him ‘Star’ when she was getting intimate. “Crystal…?” Gazer said, now concerned. There was a long pause. “Star… You need to land this thing. Please.” There was no more authority in her voice. She had gone from demanding to pleading. Gazer shook his head. “No. I can’t do that.” “Star, please,” she begged. “You need to. You can’t do this. I can’t let you do this. Please…” She had gone from pleading to begging. “Crystal, I can’t. I just can’t.” He looked away from her and folded his forelegs again. “Star Gazer, if you ever trusted me at any point in your life, please trust me now! You really shouldn’t do this!” The desperation in her eyes had grown. Gazer looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Only if you give me a good reason,” he said demandingly. Crystal said nothing. She just looked at him. After a while of silence, Gazer looked away again. “…I can’t make it back to Earth on my own,” Crystal said finally. Gazer glanced at her. “I wasn’t supposed to go this high. If I start descending now… No matter what I do, I’ll be falling too fast. Gazer… I’m stuck up here.” Gazer shook his head, eyes widened slightly. “That’s not fair.” “Gazer-” “That’s not FAIR!” “-Please. If you stay out here, I’m going to die. And there’s no way for me to enter your ship.” Gazer stared at her. Tears began to fill in his eyes. “Why are you doing this…?” he asked weakly. Crystal said nothing. Gazer thrusted towards her and shouted- “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!” Crystal winced at his shout, and tears began to fill in her eyes as well. “Why does the princess want to keep me out of space?! Why?! WHY?!” “I think we can answer that,” Came a deep, clear, male voice out of nowhere. Gazer looked around in all directions, then checked the intercom. Then he looked at Crystal, who slowly turned her head to the direction the ship was facing. Gazer looked out the forward window. Many stars had disappeared into blackness. Then two symmetrical glowing green eyes opened out of the void. Then another pair. Then another. And another. Soon the void had dozens of eyes glaring out from it. Right at Star Gazer. "...Oh." Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 4: The WardenEpisode I: Denials Chapter IV: The Warden You said… there are five…? Y- …Yes. You paused there for a second. *sigh*, okay, well, we’re not entirely sure. But we’ve searched for a while now and we’ve come to the conclusion that only five are needed. Buuuuuut… -But, you can never be too sure. So what made you and your team believe there are only five? The only other relics associated with them don’t carry the same traits as the five do. It’s been made fairly clear that each one is designed to be equal. There could always be one that controls all of them, or is the most important piece. Yes, of course, we’ve considered that. But we still need to look into it. So, to answer my question… -To answer your question, no, we haven’t come to a stable conclusion on how it works or what is required… Yet. Very well. No need to concern yourself. Just keep doing what you do and you’ll be fine. Naturally, sir. Is there any… …What is it…? …Sir, it looks like we have another one. …Hmhmhmhmhmmmm. Well, well… How intriguing. I… I believe I am familiar with this one. Oh…? Yes. It’s quite… Unique. Aren't they all...? ...Fair enough. Then come with me. Talk to me while we prepare to… greet it. All Gazer could do was stare. Stare at the green eyes that were staring straight back at him. Crystal Sky was just as shocked as Gazer. Or perhaps maybe not "shocked"... more like... simply unsettled. After what seemed like hours, Gazer finally asked, "Who are you...?" There was a short silence. Once again, the voice came out of nowhere, as if coming from invisible headphones. "Why don't you come aboard...?" it said. The eyes faded out, and a bright, white light shone from the darkness instead, growing in brightness. "...We have much to discuss." The light grew to blinding, then everything went black. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer gasped as he awoke in a cold sweat. His eyes bulged, his pupils dilated, his hearing muffled. Gazer could only hear his steady deep breathing. His vision was blurred. He blinked, slowly and exaggeratedly. He could see a blurry bright light. He continued to breathe heavily. He blinked again, as he attempted to move. His vision was less blurry, and he realized he was lying on his side. He huffed as he attempted to roll over onto his hooves. The sudden change in gravity caused him to cough violently, and his vision blacked out for a moment. He collapsed on his belly, and struggled to get up again. He had almost regained his vision by now, but he could only hear a high-pitched ringing sound. He looked around, slowly and sluggish. He was in a small room with curved walls, made of some kind of purple metal. Lights lined the walls along the ceiling. What appeared to be an open door in front of him showed a similar looking hallway. Gazer narrowed his eyes and stood straight up. His vision still slightly blurred, he could barely see a shadowy figure approach him from the opposite end of the corridor. As the figure came closer into view, Gazer's eyes widened, then quickly narrowed again as one word popped into his mind- Changeling. \v/\V/\v/ Crystal awoke to the sound of strange chattering noises. She looked around, and instantly put two and two together. They were on... the ship. The first thing she felt was... naked. She instantly noticed she wasn't wearing her EV/triple-A suit, yet she was breathing. The second thing she noticed was her mane was a mess, and was getting in her eyes. The third thing she noticed was that she couldn’t move her forelegs to brush her hair out of her face. They were bound to poles at either side of her. She was retrained, kneeling on the floor, forelegs raised up. The fourth thing she noticed was her captor standing outside the room, looking at her through a window, laughing with the others. She blew her mane out of her eyes with irritation. \v/\V/\v/ Shining Armor was on leave. His first officer was put in command, and this was his day off. He had the day off, the whole day, and the next day, and the next day. He was on leave. It was his much needed break. He couldn’t spend it with Cadance, because she was too busy in her new empire. Nothing had happened since the return of Sombra. There were no threats against Canterlot, no conflicts, nothing eventful. So he was alone, on his break, ready for the next three days to be a relaxing, peaceful, uneventful- “We need you to come in, Captain.” Horsefeathers. \v/\V/\v/ Celestia sat upon her throne, with Luna on hers at her side. Normally Luna wouldn’t be up at this time of day, but this was important. The room was littered with guards- spearponies, battlecorns, pegasus archers, pegasus snipers (with the newest crossbow model), and four officers. An excessive amount of military for an excessive amount of important ponies. Next to Celestia was a documenter, ready to record any and all conversations when the meeting began. Sitting in chairs in front of the throne were the advisor, treasurer, the secretaries, the Supreme Commander of the Equestrian military, and the representatives of the public. All that was missing was captain of the royal guard. Finally, two royal guards entered the throne room, followed by a large, white unicorn stallion wearing purple decorative armor. He was also sleepy. Immediately he was sprung out of his fatigue when he saw all the VIPs and diverse soldiers around him. He stepped forward, and all the soldiers in the room saluted at once. Except the snipers. The captain returned the salute and walked forward, bowing to the princesses. He then walked to the only vacant seat, next to the Supreme Commander, who he saluted. The commander obliged. Finally, when everyone was settled, Celestia spoke. “Let us begin,” she said. The documenter levitated his quill and started writing. “I have gathered you all here today to discuss a recent event that may have put all of Equestria in jeopardy.” Some murmurs among the representatives. “And old enemy of ours has been stirred, and may be interested in attacking.” More murmurs. The Supreme Commander looked like he wanted to say something, but waited patiently for the Princess to finish. “They have gotten significantly stronger the last time we engaged them. And I fear much more than Canterlot is at stake.” “What would be the best form of retaliation?” the commander asked, already prepared for total war. “Diplomacy, you barbarian!” the advisor said. The commander raised an eyebrow. “We can’t immediately assume war. We must first know their intentions.” “The advisor is correct,” Luna said. “We must first see if we can evade such a conflict, then, if all else fails, we will resort to retaliation.” “If we even can,” someone muttered. Several ponies turned to see the young Secretary of Intelligence slightly laid-back in his chair, a dark expression on his face. Several ponies looked like they wanted to say something, but Celestia had ignored him. “As I said before, they have gotten stronger since our last encounter,” she said. “They are now threatening every major city in Equestria.” Loud and concerned chatter among the crowd. “ORDER!” Luna bellowed. The room was silent. She gestured to her sister as if to say ‘go on.’ Celestia nodded. “We have a cannon pointed at our head, fillies and gentlecolts. We need to assure the safety of Equestria. Which means we must confirm that our enemy is not going to attack us.” Her face turned sorrowful. “We cannot afford a war of this magnitude…” “Can they even be reasoned with…?” Prince Shining Armor suddenly asked. Everypony looked at him. “What makes thou think that they cannot?” Luna asked him. “They’re animals,” Shining replied, seemingly surprised at how little everypony else knew about the enemy. “Princess, you've seen what they've done before.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “They’re simple-minded, animalistic, hungry monsters. I say we don’t just reason with them, we stand up to them. Don’t back down. Maybe then they’ll decide to leave us alone, and if they don’t, we’ll still be ready.” Everypony in the room looked confused. Except the commander, who looked like he couldn't decide whether to be confused with everypony else or impressed with Shining Armor’s valor. “They literally feed off of love and happiness. Do you really think a race like that can be reasoned with…?” Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Captain, who do you think we’re dealing with…?” she asked. Shining looked confused. “The… changelings…?” Celestia shook her head. “We’re not talking about the changelings.” Shining paused. “Then… who are we talking about…?” \v/\V/\v/ Wait. Wait a minute... What...? Upon further examination, the figure couldn't possibly had been a changeling. Fist of all, it wasn't equinoid. it had no hooves, just claws. Secondly, it had six limbs- no wings- four feet underneath it, two arm-like appendages in front of it, four clawed fingers on each. It somehow bared characteristics of being both reptilian and arthropodal, its black chitin bearing what appeared to be large, thick scales, while the gaps were closed with smaller, softer ones. It was like a cross between a changeling and a dragon, minus the wings and plus the arms. It had piercing neon-green eyes, not unlike the ones Gazer had seen in the void of space a few moments earlier. It seemed to wear a set of decorative black plate-mail armor, lined in blue, resembling another layer of a chitinous shell. It had three horns sticking out of its head, two curved out to the side, one sticking straight out in the middle. What was part of the armor and what wasn't was impossible for Star to tell, for the head at least. It was no taller that an average Earth pony, and no longer than an alicorn. Finally it stopped in front of him. "Good day, Doctor Cosmo," it said in a smooth, young male voice. Its split-jaw and pincers opened an closed rapidly and fluently as it talked. Gazer stood there for a second, glaring at the newcomer. "Doctor Gazer, if you please." \v/\V/\v/ "V'eii is t'ei vrisaet'ir it' kaet'vit'itrit't?" The chittering noise. "S'ei risistith." "S'ei attakkkith es!" The annoying chittering noise. "V'eat ari iiaee, it'vat't-kkit'th?! IIaee thae t'aet t'iith tae k'eait' 'eir! 'Eat'thtsi 'eir! Atsv'ea-sir trest sii atsts kaet'takts. Ritsiasi 'eir at aet'ki! Et'thirstaeaeth?!" "IIis sir!" Sounded so familiar... Crystal's head snapped up as her two captors approached her. She blew her mane out of her eyes again. "Get up." Crystal raised her eyebrow with an expression that said, "dang, how stupid are you?" She wiggled her chained hooves. The two reptilian-insect guards looked at each other, then went over to her and unlocked the mechanism. Sky let her hooves drop with the rest of her body, as they had been begging to do for so long. She sat there (kind of) for a moment, before the same guard said, "Now get up." Crystal raised her left hoof toward them without looking. "Could you lend me a hoof...?" she asked weakly. Once again, the guards looked at each other. One walked up and took her hoof, yanking her up. Except he didn't. Crystal pulled down, causing his face to collide with a rising right hoof. The guard was sent backwards, crashing into the wall. "Trakkir--!" was all the other could say before Crystal swung her back leg around and tripped him. She then sprang to her hooves and ran for the doorway, only to be hit straight in the neck. She collapsed to the floor. "You silly fool. Did you not hear three voices?" came a deep but somewhat feminine voice. Sky felt dazed. She felt herself being pulled up and told to keep walking. She absent-mindedly obliged. As she walked down the strange corridors, she started thinking. What's happening again? Oh, right. It's them. I'm on their... ship? Maybe? Probably. Now, what happened? Oh, right. Gazer... Crystal's eyes widened. Gazer. Gazer! Where's Star Gazer?! Wait, why am I asking myself? She stopped and turned to the creatures behind her. Now, what she meant to say was: "Star Gazer. Where is he." But what came out was: "Wait, w-where's Star Gazer...?!" Had the first demand been said, the response would've been: "He's coming, too. Keep walking." But all they said was: "Keep walking. Tsaevivrirth." Naturally, this caused Sky to panic slightly. She started thinking to herself again, continuing her walk. Where could he be? What happened to him? Wait. What's going on- think back... Gazer... built his shuttle... we tried to stop him... I... I continued... after him... and then... THEY... showed up... captured us... Uh-oh. Oh no... oh dear... oh... no... that's... ... ...I wonder what they're doing about this back in Canterlot. I wonder if... they'll finally use... them... \v/\V/\v/ "First order of business," Celestia decreed, "Getting them back." "Shouldn't we evacuate the cities?" asked the advisor. "We do not even know if they will go through with their threat," Luna replied. "Before we even begin negotiations, we must insist that they return Doctor Gazer and miss Sky." "I second that," said the Supreme Commander. "Then let's skip to the vote now," Celestia said. "Time is of the essence. All those in favor of postponing all further actions toward this matter and focusing on the safe return of the hostages, raise your hoof." Seemingly everyone sitting raised their hoof. "All those opposed?" No one. "It's settled then. Luna, the advisor, the captain of A.R.C. and I will stay and prepare to make contact. Everyone else is dismissed. Captain Shining Armor, please direct the guards for escort." The prince nodded, stood, and turned to the mass of guards while most of the VIPs got up to leave. "Archers, Battlecorns, and two squads of spearponies, escort the VIPs. You, and you, direct them." "Yes, sir!" said the two officers he pointed to. They saluted, and the captain obliged. All three then saluted the Commander, who was now leaving. After most of the ponies had left the room, Shining Armor discreetly approached Princess Celestia. "Um, your Highness...?" "Yes, Captain?" "Do you think... maybe, just as a precaution, I should..." "What is it?" "...Should I tell my sister and her friends... just in case...?" Celestia's face turned blank. "...Not yet. But I'll keep that option in mind. Thank you, Captain." "Of course, Princess..." Shining Armor bowed and backed off, only to turn and walk out of the room, recieving and returning salutes on his way out. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer was led through several corridors, all looking exactly the same. How big is this place? What is this place? He spotted several other creatures that looked similar to his scaly-chitinous escort here, but wearing different, less decorative armor. Most of them were minding their own business, tending to whatever job they were doing. Others, however, stopped what they were doing just to... stare at him... as he walked by. Gazer spotted one group of three in particular who were looking over at him from the opposite side of a large room they were passing through. They appeared to be... snickering at him. Gazer ignored them, and instead focused on his escort's behavior. It obviously wasn't a guard. It was too slender, and it didn't bear any similar traits of the dark-purple plated armor some of the others were wearing, which Gazer assumed to be security, considering the strange wand-like devices they each held in their claws, which he assumed to be weapons of some sort. That means that they must not consider Gazer a prisoner. Or a threat. Or... they were just maybe a bit cocky. Whatever the reason, Gazer didn't have a security escort, but his guide did seem to hold some role of importance, given the gestures he (assuming it's a he, given the voice) received from most of the other creatures he walked by. So all in all, Gazer's visit here was definitely important to them. Whether it was more or less important to them than it was to him was still to be determined. At one point, they came into a corridor that had a window running along it. Gazer stopped and stared out the window. Oh... right. This giant facility that he had been walking around in for five minutes... was in space. More prescisely, in orbit around the Earth. Even more prescisely, right above Equestria. Well, this is one BIG ship. Finally, They arrived at a large door, which opened to a large, symmetrical room, with several computer-like panels, consoles, holograms, creatures attending to them, and one big, green-lined window in the center of the back wall, looking down upon Gazer's homeland. Standing in the center on a raised platform, looking out that window, was a uniquely-armored creature, lined in green. He stood with his back to the newcomers, while everyone else in the room glanced at them, only to return to their business. The escort stepped forward. "Atsv'ea-sir?" he said. The creature turned its head slightly, still not looking at them. "He is here." It then turned fully around to show its exceptionally bright green eyes, staring directly at Gazer. It... smiled? "Hello." He said. Definitely a he. "...Hi," Gazer replied simply. "Welcome to my ship, Gazer of Stars." "Hah... clever." "I suppose you're wondering a great deal of things." He started walking towards them. "Wow, how'd you guess?" "Hm. Sarcasm. How unfortunate. Here I thought you were a stallion of greatness..." Gazer glared, but then instantly laughed. Rather loudly, too. "The first thing you need to know about our race... is that greatness comes from where you least expect it. Why, I can think of six examples right off the top of my head..." "I'm sure." "*ahem*... Right, sorry. Question one. Who the hay are you?" "I am mostly referred to as the Atsv'ea. But you may call me 'the Captain.' Or, 'the Alpha.'" "Yeah, I think I'll call you Skipper. Question two. Where's Crystal Sky?" "She will be here shortly. Unharmed." On cue, the doors behind Gazer opened again, letting in three security guards, one having purple-lined black armor, and looking slightly different than an other crew member. Gazer assumed it was female. With them was none other than Crystal Sky. With a bruised throat. Gazer snapped his head back around at the Captain. "...Unless, of course, she acts... violent." "Star!" Crystal cried. "Crystal! Are you alright?" Gazer asked, looking back again. Crystal rubbed her neck and cleared her throat. "I think so," she said. Gazer nodded and looked back at the Captain. "Right. Next question. What do you want with me?" "You, doctor, have broken a treaty." "A treaty? What treaty?" "The Atsv'ea-Celestial treaty," Crystal answered. "Established twenty three years ago." "The ponies were not to exit their atmosphere, and in return, we would protect them." "'Protect'?!" Crystal scoffed. "I think he means, 'not destroy your homeland' when he says 'protect'." "...What...?" "It was an agreement, and your princess agreed to it. But now... now, doctor... you have broken it." Gazer was silent for a while. But then he gave a quick laugh. "Is that what this is about? Pfft. You don't have to worry about it." "What?" "What?" "What?" "You don't have to worry about it," Gazer repeated. "I've gone rogue. I went against orders. The princess actually tried to stop me. Isn't that right, Sky?" Crystal's jaw had dropped. She shook her head quickly. "Uh, yes. Yes! That's why I was out there in the first place. Our A.R.C. team was deployed to stop Gazer to keep this from happening." She glared at him. He grinned sheepishly. "You'd be surprised how many precautions we've taken. The princess really doesn't want to break the treaty." "So, yeah. I didn't know. I'm sorry. But hey, you stopped me anyway, so, no harm, no foul. Right?" The Captain stood there for a second, then looked to Gazer's "escort," who... shrugged? "I'm... surprised at how well you're taking this, doctor." Gazer shrugged. "Eh. At least I made it into space. I'm happy." "Um... Sir? May I talk with you?" asked the "escort" as he approached the captain. "Of course, Beta." The two proceeded to walk away, onto the platform, talking in an alien language. "So this is reason, huh?" Gazer said quietly to Crystal. "Yeah..." she replied. "Why didn't you tell me?" He looked at her with concern in his eyes. "I can understand the princess keeping this a secret, but, you could've at least told me. Don't you trust me?" "Don't pull that, Star," she replied. "You know I trust you. But you have to trust me, too. It was classified." "Why did you play along, though?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "When I told you about my project. Why did you play along?" Crystal opened her mouth to say something when the Captain and "Beta" approached. The Captain chuckled. "Well, doctor. You're obviously a smart pony. You understand things well. We're going to let the two of you go back home peacefully. I'll even see to it that Celestia will revoke all charges pressed against you, if she hasn't considered doing that already. Still, I can't guarantee the judgement of a monarch." "Diarch," Crystal corrected. Gazer nodded. "Thank you, Skipper." The Captain hesitated at the absurd nickname, but quickly ignored it. "...Your shuttle is waiting outside for you. We will transport the two of you into it when you are ready. We also suggest that you do not tell anyone of this- for your public's own safety, of course." "Of course." "You seem... doubtful." "Oh, well, it's just..." "What...?" "Well, to be quite frank, I think you're underestimating ponies." "What?" "What?" "What?" "Ponies... don't exactly like to be contained, Skipper. They have the need to expand. Every intelligent species has that need. The need to learn, to explore... The need to know. And you, good sir, are depriving them of that." "Gazer, what are you-" "I'm just sayin', it's not the best idea to contain something that really doesn't want to be contained." Gazer started casually walking toward the forward window, which now had a beam of light on the floor in front of it. A similar light was coming from inside Gazer's ship, which could be seen not too far from the window. "Much less something powerful." Crystal started following him toward the beam, less casually. "Um, Gazer..." The Captain got an amused smile(?) on his alien face. "I think you're mislead, doctor. The power your race shows is the reason why we contain you." Gazer laughed as he continued to walk. "Didn't really think that one through, did you? Not the best decision." Now it was time for the Captain to step in Gazer's path. He stopped. The captain had... a... a smirk... probably... and was looking straight into his eyes. "Are you challenging me, sir?" "Are you still gonna tell Celestia to revoke my charges?" "Yes." "Eh, kinda." "Well, I'll let you know the sides are fairly even right now. More so in our favor. And if you really want to challenge us, doctor, many ponies will die. I can tell you that much now." Normally Gazer would stop smiling at this point. But he didn't. He just walked around ol' "Skipper". "Maybe. But I doubt it." He stepped into the beam of light and turned towards them. Crystal stood next to him. "I also doubt if you can find me before that happens." With that, he smiled wider, just before the light grew bright and the two ponies vanished. The Captain smiled. You can run, doctor. But none of you can hide. We are the Warden. And we will find you. Count on it. Author's Note Sorry this took so long. Been busy with school. After this episode's complete, I'll be starting a new story. But don't worry, I'm not stopping this one. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. --Raptor Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 5: AnswersEpisode I: Denials Chapter V: Answers You'll just let them go...? Of course. ...I... What else would I do? Detain them? Execute them? No. No, sorry, I... I completely expected this. I don't know why I asked. Maybe you're not used to me being merciful. ...I suppose that's an explanation. After all, I was on the bridge with you during the war. ... ...I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- Hmhmhm. Yes, I was quite the ruthless one back then. But things have changed now. ...Of course, sir. Get back to your research. ...Yes sir. ...And Beta? Yes? ...Please. Don't mention the war to me again. ... ...Don't. \v/\V/\v/ "Gazer?" "Yes? OW!! What the hay?!" "DID YOU JUST CHALLENGE AN ADVANCED ALIEN RACE?!" "If I say 'yes', will you hit me again?" "Ugh, Gazer..." Crystal held her forehead with her hoof. "Do you realize... how much trouble we're in right now...?" Gazer pushed off of the bulkhead and floated towards the pilot seat. "Of course I do. Skipper explained-" "WILL YOU BE SERIOUS, FOR JUST, A SINGLE, SECOND!" Crystal screamed. Her hooves pounded the air with every emphasized word. She panted, chest heaving in and out. Her wings twitched and her tail shuddered. But the biggest thing Gazer noticed- the biggest thing- above all else, he noticed her eyes. Her EYES. They shot out at a tremendous speed straight for the head, and were piercing his face, his skull, and his very soul. Then it shot out the back, ready for the next fool to fall into their path of travel. These eyes were the result of extreme irritation and impatience. Two things that did not go well together. These eyes could take the toughest royal guard and reduce him to a crying mess calling for mommy. Were they placed on a god-like princess, it'd probably blow up a dragon, or something. And all this power was being directed straight at the meek blue doctor, who just sat there, half-finished buckling himself in, frozen, involuntary staring straight back into the unblinking eyes of DEATH. He made a small, incoherent peeping sound, which, even with our advanced technology and the world's top scientists and historians at our disposal, was unable to be translated. We do however, know that it was confirmatory. They didn't move for a while, save the deep breaths of Crystal's panting, and the twitching of her extended wings. Finally she sighed and closed her weapons of mass fear, turning away. Instantly, Gazer gave the "All-Clear" signal in his mind, letting himself know that the threat was gone. Not like, "we have won the war", it was more like, "the enemy has decided not to utterly decimate us". Gazer refrained from letting out a loud sigh of relief, however. "Gazer..." Crystal said, eyes still closed, residual anger still in her voice, "...that race has threatened to bombard our cities if we don't comply with them. And you just challenged them to... I don't even KNOW why you challenged them." Gazer remained silent for a few seconds, then resumed buckling himself in. "Well... I don't really think I was challenging him... I was just... warning him." Crystal scoffed. "So now you're threatening the powerful evil alien race?!" Gazer looked at her. "Warning him," Gazer repeated, like he was talking to a wall. Crystal facehoofed. "I just let him know that the majority of ponies won't like what he's doing. And it's true. I certainly don't." He turned forward and started checking the status of the ship. "And I bet you don't, either." Crystal lowered her hoof from her face and looked at him with her mouth slightly open. She didn't know how to respond to that. "I..." she started, but she couldn't finish her sentence. "You know I'm right," Gazer told her, still not looking back at her. "And I'm sorry if you don't like how I handled that situation with my recklessness-" he paused to turn his head slightly so he could almost see her "-but you should know me long enough to know that it's what I do." Gazer's tone had shifted dramatically. Earlier he was joking and cocky- but now he was serious and... well... still kinda cocky. He turned back to his console. "Once we get back- assuming Skipper'll have already contacted the princess by the time we arrive- I'm going to confront her and tell her that we need to act. I don't care how she responds; I've gone against her will once already today, I can do it again." At this point, Crystal managed to gather her words enough to react; "Unless she locks you up before you get the chance this time." Gazer turned his head full around to give her a deadpan look, brows low, eyelids half-closed. Crystal shrugged. "What...?" Gazer rolled his eyes and turned back. "Look. You're right, this is serious. But I need to do this. But first I need some questions answered." He thrusted forward two levers, and the shuttle jutted forward. "The first being..." He turned around again, facing Crystal with a serious expression. "How long did you know about all this...?" Crystal remained silent. Her mouth opened several times to say something, but no words came out. Eventually, Gazer turned back. crystal raised a hoof and opened her mouth to say something- but once again, nothing came out. "Doesn't matter," Gazer muttered. "I'll know enough when we get back." Besides, he thought, your silence says it all. The rest of the way home was in silence. \v/\V/\v/ The doors to the courtroom swung open to reveal a narrow-eyed navy-blue unicorn and a worried-looking aqua pegasus, escorted by four royal guards. They approached, slowly but steadily, towards the princess's throne. Gazer had an enchanted magic-hindering clamp secured on his horn, and Crystal had her wings bound to her sides. Standing next to the princess was Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, wearing a blank expression. On the other side of the throne was Sonic Boomer, Wing leader of the A.R.C. He didn't look too happy when he saw Crystal, who avoided eye contact. The Princess, on the other hand, did not look angry, or even disappointed. But she didn't look happy either. She looked... nonchalantly determined... if that's even possible. The two guards in front of the rogues stepped aside, presenting them to Princess Celestia. Gazer noticed Luna was absent. She's probably asleep at this time of day, he thought. Too bad. She knows me a bit better... She would've been a bit more lenient with me. Oh well. Maybe I should speak first... Gazer opened his mouth- "I'm glad you made it back, Dr. Gazer," Celestia said in a soft voice. Gazer's mouth shifted to one that expressed confusion. That wasn't exactly the first reaction he was expecting. Celestia looked at Crystal. "Same for you, Miss Sky." Crystal nodded nervously. Gazer cleared the confusion from his face and narrowed his eyes again. "Your Highness," he said, "I need to speak with you." Celestia nodded as if to say, I know, but continue. "The alien race that is... confining us... needs to be stopped." Shining armor got a surprised look at this, while Celestia cocked her head back slightly and raised an eyebrow. Gazer continued: "We shouldn't be contained like this. We can't be. We need to expand, and these... aliens are keeping us from that. I honestly don't give a dang about any treaty signed years ago." He paused. "Which brings me to my first question- how many other ponies have thought up the idea for space travel?" Shining Armor looked at the princess, who continued to stare at Gazer. I'm assuming you've already heard from Skipper, Gazer thought, considering you haven't tried to stop my train of thought, or question me as to why or how I know all this. Or... you know... lock me up. Celestia sighed. "Four," she said. "Four great minds of their time. Two unicorns, one male, one female, one Earth pony male, one pegasus male. Two of them are still alive, one retired, the male unicorn, one in a different field of research, the pegasus." A look of sadness dawned on her face. "I've had to turn them all down... Just like I did to you. I'll never forget their faces. But most of all, I'll never forget Sky Watcher..." She closed her eyes. "The Earth pony. He wanted to go to the skies, like a pegasus, but he wanted to go farther. He was the first to get the idea. Everypony thought he was crazy, but once he presented the idea to me, I, being open-minded, approved of his project. He went up, and..." She paused. "...They came down. They told me who they were and what they were doing... and what they had done to Watcher..." Another pause. Crystal was looking at her with saddened eyes, as was Shining, at the floor. Gazer, however, had not shifted his mood. "...I, of course, was outraged," Celestia continued. "I told them that I wouldn't allow it, and that I would protect my land and my subjects. They... laughed, and demonstrated their... weaponry, in the badlands. The explosions they created were devastating... enough to destroy Canterlot in two hits. They told me to sign the treaty or face war. With no other option, I complied. Then came the next innovator, the unicorn mare, whose project I had to turn down. After the pegasus, Spark Wing, presented his project, I denied it, but used his technology to create the Ariel Reconnaissance Control, to be used in keeping others from breaking the treaty- such as you, Star Gazer. After him came the unicorn stallion, who did not present his project to me ahead of time, and instead launched his prototype without authorization, which forced us to deploy A.R.C., who managed to bring him down. After the incident, he immediately retired... I don't know of his current whereabouts, but I haven't heard from him since. Then came you, Dr. Gazer. You know the rest." There was a long pause. Gazer's expression remained static. "Actually, not all the rest," he said. "While that answers a lot, I still need more answers. Next question: who are they, exactly? While I was on their ship, the two alleged commanding officers introduced themselves as 'Alpha', or, 'Captain', and 'Beta'." Celestia nodded slowly. "Yes. Those are the two I spoke to, along with one called 'the Prime'. They call themselves 'the Warden'. Their actual species name is unknown to us, and we do not know much of their anatomy or culture." "Or technology..." Shining Armor added, still glaring at the floor. Gazer nodded. "Alright. Next question. How many ponies know of them- and for that matter, how many non-ponies know of them?" Celestia shook her head. "As far as I know, they have only shown themselves in Equestria, but it isn't too far-fetched to believe that they have a world-wide containment in progress. As far as how many ponies know... not many. Only the highest representatives and VIPs are aware of their existence, including the secretaries, the advisor, the Supreme Commander, and of course, Princess Luna and I." Gazer nodded again. "Alright. Good. The more the merrier." Everyone in the room shared a perplexed look. Well, except Gazer. "Next question. Have my charges been revoked?" Celestia smiled and half-closed her eyes. "Yes, doctor. You're fine." "Cool. Next question. Have her charges been revoked...?" Gazer motioned to the mare standing next to him, who looked at him with surprise, worry, and appreciation. Celestia looked to Sonic Boomer, who looked up at her like he wanted to say something. Before he could, however, Celestia turned back to the doctor and nodded, still smiling. "Good. Next question. I have an idea, do you want to hear it?" The princess paused. "I suppose..." "Next question. Do you promise not to keep me under lock and key so I won't go over your head and go through with my idea, should you disapprove of it?" "...Perhaps." Gazer paused. Eh, close enough. "Alright. Last question... "How much metal do we have access to...?" With secrets come lies, with lies, comes suspicion, and with suspicion, comes the need for answers. As long as there are those who hold secrets, there is always those who seek out the truth... for better or worse. And there will always be secrets. And with secrets come denials, denials of the secrets, the answers, the truth. No matter what, there will be denials. As long as something is denied, it remains the truth for someone, even if, in reality, it isn't. But we, the Warden... we deny your Exodus... We deny your ability to leave... we deny your FREEDOM! And as long as we do... it WILL remain the truth. Author's Note ...And that concludes the first episode of "Why Ponies Aren't in Space"! I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope you look forward to the next episode. Hopefully I'll be able to make it longer. And don't worry- there'll be plenty more twists and turns for you all to enjoy. We're just getting started. --Raptor Episode 2: Threats; Chapter 1: Research & DevelopmentEpisode II: Threats Chapter I: Research & Development Sir...? What. ...Is... this a bad time, sir...? ... ...What's that you're-- --No. No... it's not a bad time... What is it? ...Is that--? --Yes. Yes it is. Do you want to make something of it?! ...Sir, you know how-- --Do you REALLY want to start something...?! ...No. Then tell me what it is you want and be on your way. ...Yes, sir. The diagnostics you ordered reported perfect condition. Nothing out of the ordinary. ...Good. Dismissed. ... Alpha to Carapace. Respond. Carapace at your beck and call, sir! Have the 'Haetri-vaertsth Agents inspect the thistraeii'ir division. By your orders. I would prefer them to not know of our conversation... Deceiving the obnoxious it'vat't-kkit'th? I'm liking this conversation already. What do you need? ...There's something I want you to do... Four Weeks Later Star Gazer hastily flipped through the pages, scanning each one with unnatural speed for the fifth time. When the pages ran out, he slammed the notebook closed, and his eyes halted. He stood there for a moment, thinking. Then, he frowned, glanced down at the book, then back up. "...Fascinating," he whispered simply. He pushed the book to the side and looked over the other documents. Blueprints, sketches, notebooks... all of different devices. Devices that weren't supposed to be released to the world. Some of which were never given the chance. For better or worse... They were the past four designs of the minds who wished to go up to the stars. Classified top secret, they were for Gazer's eyes only, along with his design team, and the royal authorities, of course. Gazer looked at each one once more. Sky Watcher's combustion rocket... Violet Shine's "Orbital Carraige" levitation system... Spark Wing's Extreme Distance Flight Suit, and the anonymous unicorn stallion's "Magicka-Burn" rocket. Gazer found the last one to be the most interesting. It was like a combustion engine... with pure magic energy as fuel. Combine that with Violet's levitation coils... Gazer frowned. His own system was still more efficient. But he made a mental note to test the "Magicka burn" later. There was a knock on the door. Gazer shook his head and looked around the room. He was in a small, cramped office with stone gray walls with metal beams stretching along them in a skeletal manner. The single lamp suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the room swayed back and forth, creaking lightly. The dusty metal shelves in the back of the room were nearly vacant, while the wooden desk in the middle was littered with notebooks, binders, papers, and scrolls. In front of Gazer, in the darkest corner of the room, was the faintest shape of a door, from which the knocking had come from. It was so dark... anything could be at that door. Gazer cleared his throat. "Come in," he said. The door slowly opened, and for some reason, Gazer felt a sense of relief when he saw that it was only Crystal Sky. "Ah, Crystal," he said, smiling. "What can I do for you?" Crystal looked around the room at the scattered papers strewn over the desk and on the floor. "Are you busy...?" she asked rather quietly. "Of course," he replied. "I'm always busy. It's me we're talking about." He started sifting through the papers. "But what's up?" "I can come back later..." she muttered, backing up slightly. "You can, but I'll still be busy later. I told you, I'm always busy. What do you need?" "Well, I was just wondering... what the heck are you doing, exactly...?" "I'm sifting." Crystal facehoofed. "I mean, what are you doing with all this? What's your plan, here?" "Oh, well... we're going to build another spacecraft." Crystal narrowed her eyes. "Well, yes, I got that, but... Why...? What for?" Gazer paused. "Well... that part's complicated." Gazer struffed his saddlebag full of different papers, scrolls, blueprints, and journals before trotting past Crystal, who followed him out the door. The tunnel they were walking through led to a large chamber that was filled with loud construction noises- sawblades cutting through metal and plastic, welders sparking, workers shouting, and magic twinkling. As the two ponies trotted towards the noises, Sky continued her questions. "You're not planning on getting past the Warden, are you?" she asked. "I don't think I could if I wanted to!" Gazer replied, raising his voice over the nearby drill activating. They came to a smaller section of the chamber, the rest of it blocked off by large construction equipment. Around them were several contruction ponies of all types; Earth ponies operating the heavy machinery, unicorns holding materials in place, and pegasi working on things from all angles. "I also don't think it would be the best move, given our position!" The two continued on their way, ducking beneath equipment and brushing past workers, shouting over the noises. "And what exactly is our position!?" Sky continued. Gazer hopped over a pony whose legs were sticking out from under a machine. He looked back at her. "Grounded!" he called out simply. "Then what is the best move if we're grounded!?" Crystal was blocked by two workers carrying a metal beam. She extended her wings and fluttered over the crowd, meeting Gazer on the other side. "Get ungrounded!" he said as he walked past the wall of equipment and into the rest of the large chamber. They were standing on a balcony, overlooking large groups of workers tampering with big clusters of equipment. While they weren't as close to most of it, it was still loud. "That has to be the first step before we do anything else!" "So what the next step, with this!?" Crystal asked him, nodding towards the center of the room. Gazer looked up at what she was motioning towards, and smiled. "You're not planning to threaten the Warden again, are you!?" "Oh, no!" Gazer replied. "I'm just levelling the playing field, is all!" The two ponies looked at the massive structure in the room-- an enormous metal skeleton of an airship with a closed off ceiling and no balloons, sporting wings with holes reserved for dual engine-like machinery, with patches of metal on and within the structure. "You're crazy, you know that!?" Crystal said. "Thank you!" Gazer chirped. \v/\V/\v/ The two princesses of night and day walked through the main hall, the stain-glass windows shining colorful light on the floor. They said nothing, but they both knew what was on their minds. They passed by each window-- each story. The rise of Discord, the first fall of Discord, the second fall of Discord, the Changeling invasion of Canterlot, the delivery of the Crystal Heart... so on and so forth. Finally, Celestia broke the silence. "Are you sure this is the best course of action, Luna?" she asked quietly, concern in her voice. "It is the best option we have," Luna replied. "And I trust Dr. Gazer." "As do I," Celestia agreed, "but this is a bold move. Things could get very dangerous. I'm not sure if we should devote so many resources to this... gamble." Luna said nothing. "Not to mention, if we lose, many lives may suffer." "I am aware of this, sister," Luna said, looking up at her. "But the doctor knows what he is doing." Celestia gave a slight smile. "You really trust him, don't you?" "Gazer is no fool," Luna said sternly. "If anyone knows how to make a safe and smart gamble, it is he." Celestia looked forward, and her smile disappeared. "But what is his plan?" she asked. "He says he wants to avoid confrontation, yet it looks like he plans on threatening them." "Do you agree with him?" Luna asked. Celestia looked at her sister for clarification. "Do you believe that ponykind must expand beyond the sky?" Celestia sighed and stopped in her tracks, looking up at a blank stained-glass window. "I believe that we are happy here," she said. "Where we are, now. In Equestria. We have plentiful resources, little to no enemies, poverty, or crime, and don't suffer from overpopulation. We have no reason to expand." She looked at her younger sister with saddened eyes. "So why should we risk devastating war to do so...?" Luna looked down. The answer to that was difficult to understand, but Luna had somewhat of an idea. "Perhaps..." she began. She looked back up at her sister. "...Perhaps it is because we are supposed to. Perhaps we need to, but we just don't know why yet." She looked out the window, at the endless sky behind it. Celestia followed her gaze. "...Perhaps it is our destiny." \v/\V/\v/ Gazer and Crystal trotted along the metal floor, passing by the noisy equipment. "I still don't understand how you think we can stand up to them!" Crystal shouted. "Simple!" Gazer called back. Although both of them knew nothing was ever simple when it came to the strange stallion. "We have a strong sense of magic!" They managed to exit the maze of machinery, and Crystal hovered over to him, landing at his side. They continued walking toward an area with large papers posted on boards and lying on desks. "The Warden keep us earthbound because they don't want us in space for some reason. I believe that reason is because they're afraid of us." "Afraid of us?" Crystal raised an eyebrow at him. "With their kind of technology? They must have been in space for years! That means they have much more experience then we do." "Experience, yes," Gazer looked at her. "Magical prowess, no. When you were on their ship, did you even once see one of them use magic...?" Crystal opened her mouth, but then stopped. She looked off in a different direction for a moment, then looked back at Gazer. "No, actually. I never have. They just use their claws to interact with things." "Right! They have opposable claws. They don't need innate magic, like ponies. Sort of like griffons or dragons. They may be able to harness magic through arcane arts or technology, but they don't have a unicorn's ability to alter it directly." "But how do we use that to our advantage?" The two walked up to the desk, where a big, brown earth pony with a blonde mane was sifting through papers, glaring down intently through his spectacles. Two cream-colored mares stood in the corner, bickering over what looked like a blueprint. "To answer that question, I'd like you to refer to my good friend, Mr. Rusty Gears." Gazer stopped and motioned to the earth pony, who looked up and smirked at the mare, taking of his glasses. He nodded. "Ma'am," he greeted, holding out a hoof. Sky shook it. "He's the Chief Engineer of this project," Gazer explained. "I had the ideas, but he helped me get it to work." Gears frowned. "Hey, some of these ideas are mine, too." "I know," Gazer said, walking around the desk. "Care to share with the mare?" He chuckles. "Heheheh... Ah, rhyming." Sky rolled her eyes. "So, what did you come up with, Mr. Gears?" she asked. "The structure of the vessel, mainly." "Oh?" Rusty nodded. "Star was never really good with structure and architecture, so I was able to get his design to work." "By that he means he rewrote my design entirely!" Gazer called from one of the walls, where he was examining a blueprint. Rusty shrugged. "Made it work, didn't I?" He puts a hoof down on the desk in front of him, which has the overall design of the ship laid out on it. "I made it so it could easily fly in and out of atmosphere without damage, as well as sustain a decent amount of stress." He looks over to Gazer. "Star's design would've torn itself apart as soon as it tried to re-enter the atmosphere!" he said a little loudly. Gazer just looked at him with a half-lidded expression and walked over. "Impressive," said Crystal. "Yes, yes, very," Gazer said hastily. "But tell her about what you did regarding the magical network." Rusty blinked. "About what? Magical network? That wasn't me, Star, that was Sparklight." He points behind him at a yellow and blue unicorn mare. "Oh..." Gazer stared at her. "...Right. Heh..." Rusty pointed to his forehead. "Do I have a horn on my head? I'm a technical engineer, dude, I dunno jack about magic--" "Yeah, yeah, I get it." Gazer said, ushering Crystal to follow him. She smiled, shaking her head, and followed. The two approached the yellow mare, and before Gazer could say anything, she addressed them: "Hello, doctor." "Hey, Sparklight. I'd like you to meet--" "Hello, Crystal," the mare interrupted. Crystal smiled. "Hello, Sparklight. How have you been?" Sparklight shrugged and turned to her. "Can't complain. Been working around a lot of noisy machinery, but I've gotten a lot done." Gazer glanced between them. "Oh. You know each other?" "Well, we both spend a lot of time in the castle..." Crystal explained. Gazer shrugged. "Well, alright. That makes things simpler. Why don't you tell her about the magical network, Spark?" The yellow mare nodded. "Gladly. We've figured out a way to pool unicorns' magic together into the very construct of the ship, almost as a way for them all to use it as one." Crystal's eyes widened slightly as she raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought everypony's magic was separate, so that it can't be influenced easily by another. Like, with levitation and stuff." Sparklight nodded again. "Naturally, yes. But some ponies have been able to 'combine' their magic through meditation. However, the process requires time, practice, and a close relationship between the casters-- and it isn't even very practical to begin with." She motioned to an open book she was examining before they interrupted. There were several sketches of an object and multiple unicorn-shaped figures with several lines connecting them in various places on their heads, captioned with arcane symbols. "When combined with just a little technology and enchanting, however, we were able to make a connection." "So what exactly would this do?" "Help focus magical energy," Gazer chimed in. "Help control the ship. There'll be one pilot, and normally one pony controlling such a large object would be extremely taxing and inaccurate. So, with the help of spreading the strain over a bunch of other minds, the pilot will be able to control the ship precisely and comfortably." "I see... does this mean the crew will be entirely unicorn?" Gazer shook his head. "Not necessarily. We only need about five unicorns to support the network, but the ship needs to be run by more then that. We're not being discriminatory here." "Oh. That's good..." Crystal murmured. Gazer paused. "Wait, why?" He smirked. "Did you want to be part of the crew?" Crystal's eyes darted away. "Well... m-maybe..." She looked up at him. "I'm still not sure what its mission exactly is," she whispered. Gazer nodded in understanding and smiled at Sparklight, who nodded back at him. After a while of walking around the facility and talking about the ship, Gazer stood on the platform next to Sky, looking upon his work. "...Do you really think you could do it...?" Sky asked suddenly. "Do what?" "...Go to war." Sky looked up at him with a blank but serious expression. Gazer stared back at her. "That is what this is for, isn't it...?" She motioned to the ship. "It's not..." "Not what? Built for war? Then why are you putting weapons on it...?" "...We're not putting weapons on it." "You think I'm stupid?" Crystal snapped. "I know what that is." She pointed to a long, metal rod jutting out of a swiveling chassis resting near the ship, being worked on by three ponies. "The magical network can be used like a unicorn's mind. That rod is a horn. But not just any horn-- one optimized for a specific spell." "...It's just for show." "You really think the Warden are going to be intimidated by that...?" Crystal's voice softened. "...Actually, I do." Gazer looked at her with a determined expression. "Like I said before, they detain us because they're afraid of our capabilities." He then shifted his gaze over to the ship. "When they see this... they may question if their whole mission was really worth it." "You're that confident in your assumptions...?" "...I'm not assuming. You know I don't do that." Sky looked at him doubtfully, and he looked right back at her. "I need you to trust me on this. Please." After a few moments of hesitation, Crystal nods. As the two walk off, neither of them notice a lamp up in the rafters flicker and die. Author's Note And so begins Act II! I'll admit, this chapter was mostly headcanon. I hope it was at least interesting. Sorry it took so long. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently. I know this fic isn't really known for that, (and neither am I, really,) but I'll do my best. Thanks to those who kept this dusty ol' book in your favorites, hoping it would one day update. Until next time. See you at Ragnarok, --Raptor Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 1: The BreakthroughEpisode I: Denials Chapter I: The Breakthrough Have you ever stopped and considered… we're doing the wrong thing…? Never. Why? Well… they seem rather peaceful. Why do we deny them? They're certainly no threat to us. *Sigh.* You obviously underestimate them. And you clearly don't know them that well. Well then, enlighten me. In due time. I have things to attend to. Keep watching. And don't worry, it's fine. …If you say so. Star Gazer frantically raced back and forth within his laboratory in Canterlot Towers. His dark blue coat and mane blurred as he ran. His teal eyes darted from side to side, slurping up the information written on his notepad. He rapidly mumbled to himself as he worked, not even paying attention to what he was saying. He dashed from desk to desk, from a machine to a telescope. Finally he stopped to let his mind catch up to him. He started to mumble again, but paid attention to his thoughts. "If enough magic is generated into the converter the energy can be used in the engines and if the engines are already active then that should double the rate of the engine which would then not only power the main system but would power the converter as well giving more volts per magick and therefore accelerating the amount of total energy produced," He took a gasp of breath, "and that would lead to an exponential growth of energy the exact rate of which I need to power my long-distance-heavy-load teleportation spell modifier which could then send me into outer space, and would also let me to transport to other planets, other solar systems and MAYBE EVEN OTHER GALAXIES," He took another deep breath and stood up on his hind legs, shouting, "OH, YES! I AM BRILLIANT!" He stood there for a second, breathing heavily, with a stupid grin on his face. The grin slowly disappeared, however, as he looked left and right. He put his front hooves down, and his expression turned worriedly perplexed. "But… It was so easy," he whispered to himself. "How come… nopony's ever thought of this before?" He looked back at a pile of machine parts. "This is hardly cutting-edge technology. And I may be smart, but I'm not the smartest." He walked up to the large, half-dome-shaped window where the telescope was, overlooking Equestria's Great Valley. He leaned on the edge of an open section of the window. The railing was precariously old and worn, and it creaked every time he leaned on it. "You know, one of these days, you're going to lean on that thing, and it'll break," Crystal Sky would say. Gazer would laugh and say "You know me. I live life on the edge." He'd look at her and smile. "It's the best way to live life- barely." She would always smile and shake her head at that. She never really understood. Finally his serious mood faded away and he chuckled. "You know what? Who cares? I guess other scientists just had better things to research." He raised a hoof out the window, and leaned more on the railing, which creaked in agony. "The point is, I will be the first of ponykind to touch the stars!" he jumped back from the window and ran to his blueprint desk. He grabbed the most recent version with his mouth and tossed it into the air. He ran to his door and kicked the wooden loft column. A saddlebag fell straight on his back, which then caught the blueprint. Then he pushed open the door, hit the light switch, and ran out, closing the door behind him. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer bolted down the corridors, across bridges, through tunnels, all the way to Canterlot Castle. He rushed up to the gate, where he saw an old friend of his, Sergeant Iron Pike, in royal guard armor, with his legendary spear. "It's been passed down for countless generations in my family," Pike had told him. "There's a legend that says it was used to slay a dragon. See this etching here? That's the ancient symbol for dragon. There are three of these- see? These represent Manticores. There are three of them- probably representing how many this spear has slain. I know killing's horrible, but… there's still a part of me that wants to add to it. Y'know, to like, add to the family legacy." That spear was very important to him. Maybe even a bit too important. Gazer slowed down as he approached his friend. "Hey there," he said. "In a hurry?" Iron Pike asked. His tone, like his expression, was blank. "Sure am," Gazer replied. "I've made a breakthrough." He trotted toward the gate. "I just need to present my idea to Prin-" Pike raised an armored hoof and said, "Hold on." Gazer stopped. "Sorry, Doc, but I'm gonna have to scan you." Gazer raised an eyebrow. "What? But you know me. You recognize me. Why do you-" "Ever since the invasion, we have to ID check everypony who comes in and out." He tilted his head down, and his horn gave off a white aura. "Ohhhh…" Gazer said, slowly nodding and staring off into space. "…Right. Changelings." "Yup," Pike said. A flat, white beam of light shone from his horn as he moved his head down the length of Gazer's body. "That reminds me," Gazer said, "did you ever add to you spear that day?" Pike said nothing. The beam of light went back up Gazer's body and went out. "Yup, it's you. You're clear to enter, pal." He motioned to the two guards blocking the gate, and they stepped aside. "Uh, thanks, Sergeant," Gazer said as he trotted forward. "I'll see you later…" Pike nodded. As soon as Gazer passed through the gate, the guards blocked the entrance again. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer continued to briskly trot down the hallways toward the throne room, when he heard a familiar voice. "Oh, hey, Gazer!" He stopped and looked back down the hallway he just passed. Approaching him was a sky blue white-maned mare with brilliant emerald eyes. Gazer smiled and said, "Oh, hi there, Crystal! What brings you here?" "Oh, you know," she said, rolling her eyes, "Surveillance reports. The usual. But hey, I come here every day. What're you doing here?" Gazer grinned. "I've made a breakthrough!" He hefted the saddlebag on his back. "I'm here to present my findings to the princess!" Crystal's eyes widened. "Really? Wow, that's great, but… are you sure you want to address the princess directly?" "Of course I do!" Gazer said as he continued to walk down the hallway. Crystal followed. "This is a groundbreaking invention. And it will provide many resources for the country!" "…And… what is it…? Exactly…?" Gazer grinned again. "Miss Sky, I am going to be the first of ponykind to go into outer space!" Crystal stopped and her jaw dropped. "You can't be serious- you mean you-" "I've developed the first spacecraft prototype! As soon as I get a working model going, I'm going to make an expedition to the moon! You know, start off slow. And Crystal, I would like you to be my wingpony." Crystal blushed as she put a hoof to her mouth. "M-me-?" "Well, yes," Gazer said as he looked at her pleadingly. "You're one of my best friends, you know how to work a computer, you're fairly good with mechanics, and, to be completely honest, anypony else would just get in my way." She giggled. "I would be honored to be your wingpony on your crazy expedition." Gazer grinned once more. "Wonderful! Now, without confirmation from the princess, we can't do anything yet." He started trotting down the hallway. "Without further adieu, I'm off to see Princess Celestia!" Crystal waved as he trotted away from her. "Good luck!" she called. "HAH!" Luck. Who needs it? The word always gave Gazer a laugh. One laugh. No more, no less. Just one. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer trotted right up to the adviser's desk and said bluntly, "I'd like to see Princess Celestia." "Mmmhm," the adviser said without looking up from the glowing quill writing on parchment. "Name?" the gray, white-maned stallion asked. "Dr. Star Gazer Cosmo." The adviser glanced up briefly to catch a glimpse of said 'doctor.' "Well, Dr. Cosmo-" "Dr. Gazer, if you please," Gazer interrupted. "Dr. Cosmo is my father." The adviser stopped writing and looked up at him with doubtful eyes. "No, seriously," Gazer continued. "My father is identified as Dr. Cosmo, and I'm Dr. Gazer. Official documents have gotten us mixed up." The adviser continued to stare. "Really," Gazer said with a confirming tone. The adviser sighed, set the quill down, and sat up straight, looking directly at Gazer through his glasses. "Fine, 'Dr. Gazer'…" He cleared his throat. "What business do you have here?" "I need the princess's approval to start working on a fundamental project," Gazer explained. "And… what project is that…?" "A new vehicle for a resource-gathering expedition!" Gazer got excited just thinking about it. He opened his saddlebag and pulled out the blueprints with his mouth, letting them unfold. "Shee?" The adviser tilted down his glasses and looked at the blueprints. After a few seconds, he leaned back and said, "Ugh, yes, yes, fine, you may enter." He obviously didn't understand what he was looking at, or didn't care. Or both. "Guards?" The guards magically opened the large doors. "Fhank you," Gazer said as he put the blueprints back in his saddlebag and trotted through the doorway. As he approached, he saw the almighty alicorn sitting on her large throne, her shining mane flowing softly without any wind. He also saw a familiar baby purple and green dragon with a quill and a large roll of parchment standing beside her. "Is that all?" he asked. "Yes, I believe that's everything, Spike," Celestia said. "You can send it to the archive now." Spike rolled up the parchment, inhaled, and exhaled, dissolving it in a sparkling green fire. The mist went up and out the window. "Thanks for your help, Spike," Celestia said with a pleasant smile. "Any time, princess!" He replied, standing at attention. They spotted Gazer approaching. "Hey, Dr. Gazer!" Spike said. "Haven't seen you in a while." "Heh, no, you haven't," Gazer replied as he approached. "It's been a while since you've been to Canterlot, huh?" "Sure has," Spike said as he began to leave. "Well, it was nice seeing you!" "Likewise!" Gazer stopped in front of the princess and looked at her. "Now then," Celestia said, "what can I do for you, doctor?" Gazer got a big smile from just thinking about it again. "Princess, you're gonna love this!" He said excitedly. "I've made a breakthrough!" He paused. "Huh. Boy, if I had a bit for every time I've said that today, I'd have- well… three bits… but-" "What-?" "-Nothing…" He sighed. "Princess, I have developed a vehicle never created before. A pioneer for a new age. It will reach places never touched by ponykind. It will gather rare resources and explore new places far away." He pulled out his blueprints and laid them out on the floor. "This is my newest prototype." A golden aura surrounded the blueprints as they were raised up to Princess Celestia, who looked at them earnestly. "I haven't built a working model yet, obviously. That's why I wanted to present the idea to you first, before I started working on it." Celestia continued to flip through the pages, and as she did, her smile slowly faded. "This is… a spaceship," she said. "It sure is!" Gazer said excitedly. "And I think you'll be surprised to see that it's relatively cheap to build! Honestly, I don't know how anypony else hasn't already come up with this, but who cares?! The point is, I'm the first! HA!" He made a small hop. There was a long moment of silence as the princess continued to shuffle the blueprints over and over again. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry. But I can't approve this project." Gazer's face dropped to a level of disappointment and confusion. "Wh… Bu… What…? Why?" "Putting a pony into space isn't exactly a priority at the moment," the princess said, rolling up the blueprints and putting them back in Gazer's saddlebag. "There are more important things to attend to." "But- I assure you, princess, the resources out there are tremendously bountiful-" "Also, I cannot provide the resources required to fund this project-" "Well, it's… It's quite cheap, actually. Hay, I already own most of the parts required, I could just build it out of my own personal stash with my own bare hoo-" "I've made my decision," Celestia bellowed with a glaring face. "I deny your project's approval. Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Gazer stood there for a second, surprised at the princess's aggressive behavior. However, his face didn't show it. His face showed suspicion crossed with confusion and ever so slight disbelief. Eventually he said, "As you wish… Your Highness…" He bowed and backed up a few steps, still staring at her, before turning and walking away. Crystal Sky waited anxiously outside the adviser's room for Star Gazer. She couldn't wait to start working on the project. Finally, she saw the door open, and Gazer stepped out. Her face lit up and she trotted up to him. "How did it go?" Before he could respond to her, however, her smile disappeared. Gazer had 'that look.' The suspicion/confusion/disbelief look. It was a look he always had when something odd or confusing had happened, and he couldn't figure out why. Gazer looked at her. "She… didn't approve," he said quietly. "What? Why?" "I… I'm not sure…" He looked down. "She said it… wasn't a priority… and that… that the project would be too… expensive…" While Gazer talked, Crystal took out the blueprints and laid them out on the floor. "I don't understand… Princess Celestia almost seemed… insulted that I would present such a thing. She's always approved my projects. Why deny this one?" "This is pretty cheap, too," Crystal added. "Cheap to build, I mean." "That's what I said," Gazer looked at her. "I just- I don't get it…" He looked away again. Crystal sighed and rolled up the blueprints with her right wing. "Well, I guess she's just got other things to do. You know, other problems at hand." She put the blueprints back in Gazer's saddlebag. "I… suppose…" Gazer's voice trailed off. "Hey, come on," Crystal put a hoof on his shoulder. "Cheer up, Star. You'll get another chance." Gazer looked at her again. She had a kind, reassuring smile. It somewhat forced him to smile, too. "…Yeah," he murmured. Crystal started to walk away. "Hey, I gotta go," she said. "I'll see you later." "Yeah… see you…" Gazer replied. He watched her round the corner into another hallway, then sighed. He hefted his saddlebag and started walking down the corridor. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer stood on the roof of the walkway to his tower, staring up at the night sky. It was very late, and most of the light pollution was gone. Gazer didn't bring his telescope this time; He just wanted to stand there and gaze. "Why does sleep elude thee, fair doctor?" Gazer turned his head to see Princess Luna walking up behind him. Her wings were flapping from a recent landing, and her mane and tail, bearing sparkles like the night stars, flowed beautifully, despite the lack of wind. "Good evening, princess," he said as his head turned back to the stars. "I was just admiring your beautiful night." "Do not patronize us, fair doctor," Luna said as she stood next to him. "You of all ponies should know that we do not actually craft the night sky." "Just trying to be polite, your highness." Luna smirked. "Yes, according to the local 'gossip', as they say, you are quite the 'fillykiller'." He chuckled. "I still resent that, and I have no idea where that came from." "Hm." There was a moment of silence. "You still have not really answered my question," Luna remarked. "Why does sleep elude thee?" Gazer remained silent for a while. "Your sister rejected my most recent project," he said. "That is surprising," Luna said. "However I have come to learn that my sister's judgment is just and logical, and should be respected." "I never said otherwise. I'm just… Surprised is all." Luna looked at him. He sighed. "Fine, I'm not just surprised. I'm confused. Perplexed. I even dare say flummoxed. It doesn't make sense." He paused, and his eyes dropped. "To me, at least." "Perhaps there is something she knows that you do not," Luna speculated. "Perhaps… Perhaps." "I must depart," Luna extended her great wings. "Do thyself some good and rest, fair doctor." Gazer nodded. "Good night, your highness." "Good night, Star Gazer." On that note, she flapped her wings and flew off into the night sky. Gazer looked up into the sky once more. Then down to his hooves, with his mind racing. Then his eyes narrowed. He looked up again, into the starry sky, with a new look. A look of confidence and determination. "This is either the best thing I've ever done," he whispered to himself, "or the worst." He raised a hoof into the air. "This is my dream. I'm not going to stop now. They're my parts, darn it, I can do whatever I darn well want with them. I'm going into space, whether the princess likes it or not." He threw both front hooves into the air, and yelled, "I AM DR. STAR GAZER COSMO, AND I WILL BE THE FIRST PONY TO TOUCH THE STARS!" Author's Note Initially uploaded to Fanfiction.net- thought I might as well upload it here. This is based off of a very logical point my friend made. 3 episodes planned- 5 chapters each. Hope you all like it!
Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 2: The PrototypeEpisode I: Denials Chapter II: The Prototype How many are there? Two. …I see. And what of the Great Weapon? We only have three left to confirm. Good. … What? They aren’t doing anything. They’re peaceful. Nothing is completely peaceful. *sigh*, look, we’ve established that the best way to go about- ‘-to go about the situation is suppression,’ yes, I know. You’ve seen them. Until they’ve become developed, we will deny them. They seem developed to me. In technology. In everything else… they’re primitive. There was a loud CLANG racketing in the workshop as a large, curved plate of metal flung towards a tall pillar-like structure in the center of the room. It landed perfectly in line with the cylindrical shape, until it started to fall backward. Star Gazer ran up to it and slammed it back into place. He gritted his teeth as he pulled down the welding mask and took out the welder from his greasy work apron pocket. He turned it on, and started welding the hull plate into place. When he was done, he dropped the welder, pulled off his mask and ran to the other side of the construct. He leaped up to a scaffold and jumped up to a cross beam, which he grabbed with his front hooves. He swung his back hooves forward and used them to grab an oven-sized machine. He swung his hooves back, tossing the machine into the construct. He let go of the cross beam and dropped to the scaffold as the machine landed in the cylinder with an even louder CLANG. He spun around and jumped into the construct. He grabbed the machine and grunted as he shifted it into place. He reached deep down into the construct and pulled up a bundle of wires, which he hooked up to the machine in the correct places. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and leaped out of the construct. He landed firmly on the floor and closed his eyes, referring to his mental checklist. “Let’s see, I've done… engine… battery… outer hull… converter…” He paused. “Thrusters, I did thrusters…” He bit his lip as he continued to think. “Oh, yes, I did auxiliary fuel cells… okay, I need to work on interior hull. WAIT- no, I need to do the wiring first. Which means I have to install the spell modifier, the air compressors, the lights, the computer, the sensors, the comms- all that stuff, and that means I need to finish the base structure before anything.” He facehoofed. “Ugh. Don’t get ahead of yourself, Gazer. You’re getting too excited.” He sighed. “Alright. Now, where are those titanium beams…?” \v/\V/\v/ Crystal Sky was walking home from lunch. She thought about yesterday. About how poor Star Gazer’s dream got crushed. She decided to pay him a visit, to see if he needed any cheering up. She flew up to Canterlot towers and made her way down the halls to Gazer’s laboratory. She knocked on the door and called out to him. No one answered. His door was locked. That means he was either asleep, or wasn't home. He always left his door unlocked. He was crazy like that. At this time of day, Sky knew he couldn't be asleep, so she figured he was in the workshop. She knocked on the steel-plated door twice. “Gazer?” she called. “You in there?” “Yeah, I’m-” There was a loud clatter. “…in here! Come in.” When she entered, the first thing that caught her eye was Star Gazer hanging upside down from a crossbeam. He had a blank expression, like everything was normal. She smirked and giggled. “That’s a new one,” she said. “Heh, yeah it is,” Gazer said with a smile. “I was trying to get something particularly heavy up onto my construct. Had to do a lot of leverage.” Crystal raised an eyebrow. “Why didn't you just use your horn…?” she asked. Gazer looked up (or down, rather) at his horn. “Oh. Yeah. Forgot I had that.” He dropped down, hooves first. “But, you know how I am with levitation. I can’t quite get it to work. I like to use physics. With levitation, I’m always trying to get it in one spot, and it goes too far, or not far enough, oh, you know how it is.” “No, actually, I don’t,” Crystal said matter-of-factly. “I-I really… wouldn’t know.” She fluttered her wings. “Um, right, anyways, what can I do for you?” Gazer started walking towards the central construct. “Well, I just thought I’d stop by, and… y’know, see how you’re doing.” Crystal walked forward a bit and looked at all the crossbeams and scaffolds and planks, pipes, precariously placed machines… and the large familiar structure in the center of the room. “Um, what’re you working on…?” Gazer started climbing a group of scaffolds coiling around the construct. “Um, weeeell, you know, a… new idea I’ve had… recently…” He continued climbing with a concerned expression on his face. Crystal’s eyes widened. “This is the space craft, isn't it?!” she cried. “I thought Princess Celestia disapproved of the project.” Gazer popped up over the top of the ship to look at her. “Well… yeah, technically, she did, but… I mean-” “What’re you doing, you crazy colt?!” Crystal yelled with a stamp of her hoof. “First you jeopardize Canterlot towers with your crazy furnace contraption, now you’re leading an illegal undercover space program?!” “Hey, the furnace would’ve worked fine, I wasn’t even there when that one guy-” “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!” Gazer sighed. “Look, I’m not gonna launch the thing. These are my parts, and I can do whatever the hay I want with them. I’m just making a model prototype. I just… can’t get it out of my head.” Sky stared at him for a while. Finally she sighed and said, “Alright, Star. I understand. Just… promise me you won’t do anything stupid.” Gazer looked at her with a soft smile. “I promise.” Crystal nodded, turned around, and left the messy workshop, closing the door behind her. Gazer got a glum look on his face. He sighed, hopped down... and slowly locked the door. \v/\V/\v/ Hours passed. He never left the workshop. Noon turned to dusk, dusk turned to night. There was no word. Nothing. Night turned to dawn. Dawn turned to noon. Noon once again turned to dusk. Not a word. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer gasped as he awoke in a cold sweat. His eyes bulged, his pupils dilated, his hearing muffled. Gazer could only hear his steady deep breathing. His vision was blurred. He blinked, slowly and exaggeratedly. He could see a blurry bright light. He continued to breathe heavily. He blinked again, as he attempted to move. His vision was less blurry, and he realized he was lying on his side. He huffed as he attempted to roll over onto his hooves. The sudden change in gravity caused him to cough violently, and his vision blacked out for a moment. He collapsed on his belly, and struggled to get up again. He had almost regained his vision by now, but he could only hear a high-pitched ringing sound. He looked around, slowly and sluggish. He was in his workshop. “Right,” Gazer croaked, shutting his eyes and putting a hoof to his face. “I was working. Did… did I finish…?” He shook his head and looked at the center of the room. There, standing tall and proud, was the very first space craft, 100% complete. Gazer smiled, then laughed. “Heh, well, I guess working 24 hours paid off after all…” Gazer groaned and held his head. “Must’ve passed out.” He looked at his masterpiece once more. “Welp, I sure as hay am not ready to fly it now.” He turned and headed for the door. “I’ll get a good rest… then I’ll work out the details.” He opened the door, and stopped once again to look at his spacecraft. He smiled. Then he closed and locked the door behind him. \v/\V/\v/ The next time Gazer entered the workshop was with a saddlebag on his back, a giant smile on his face and determination in his eyes. He had had a good night’s sleep, a good breakfast, and lots of planning time. He was ready. He worked quickly and cleanly. First he cleared the workshop- pushed all the junk and metal away from the center of the room, giving him and his shuttle some space. Next, he checked and double-checked that everything was in place and that all the systems were functional. He had to make some adjustments yesterday, since the original design required two pilots. Gazer couldn’t ask Crystal to be part of his black ops expedition. He couldn’t do that to her. After he confirmed that all systems were functional, he started fueling the takeoff thrusters and auxiliary fuel. He triple-checked everything from the outside, then quadruple-checked everything from the inside. He took a deep exhale, then powered up the main computer. The lights came on, the screens lit up, and the computer made several affirmative beeps. Gazer smiled and hopped out of the vehicle. He ran to a lever, which he pulled. The roof parted and slowly opened. He then pulled another lever and hopped up next to his spacecraft. The floor in the center of the room started to raise, up through the roof, lifting Gazer and his prototype. His workshop was at the edge of Canterlot, outside the wall, near the cliff face of the giant mountain. When the lift stopped, Gazer climbed back into the shuttle and settled into the vertical pilot seat. He took another deep breath and exhaled. He started the pre-launch diagnostics. :status air_compression -100% COMPLETE :status engine -100% POWER -FULLY FUNCTIONAL -62% HEAT :status fule -ERROR: UNKNOWN COMMAND :status fuel -STAGE 1 THRUSTERS: 100% -PRIMARY THRUSTERS: 100% -AUX FUEL: 100% :status battery -100% CHARGE :status levitation_coils -FULLY FUNCTIONAL -4/4 COILS ACTIVE :status -FULLY FUNCTIONAL -READY FOR LAUNCH :/engage horn_clamp| -ENGAGING. PLEASE REMAIN STILL… Gazer sat motionless while a robotic arm with two hollow clamps extended from the bulkhead. It moved to the center of his head, and the two clamps closed in on his horn, fitting it cleanly and comfortably. -…ENGAGED. READY TO RECEIVE MAGICKA :/engage shipmode iatm -ENGAGING IN-ATMOSPHERE FLIGHT MODE… -ENGAGED. LEVITATION COILS ACTIVE. READY TO RECEIVE MAGICAL COMMANDS. The shuttle jumped up a bit, then started tilting downward, parallel to the ground. Gazer placed his hooves on the two control handles in front of him. When it was done, he took one last deep breath, and said- “That old railing in my lab window is looking pretty safe right about now.” On that note, he thrusted the handles forward, and the shuttle took off straight ahead. He focused his magic on keeping the shuttle’s trajectory and altitude with the levitation coils. He zoomed left and right, across Equestria’s valley, cheering the whole way. Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter. Better, longer chapters are on the way!
Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 3: A.R.C.Episode I: Denials Chapter III: A.R.C. Have you seen this one? Which one? That one. Subject 23. Yes. What about it? Do you see how much power it has? …Yes. It isn’t even a full-fledged adult. And…? Do you think it’s good to have so much power in such a barbaric caste system? …I would hardly call it a caste system. Have you seen how much this power can corrupt them? Of course I have. I’m a historian. And? Were we so different? … Power can just as easily corrupt us. It has just as easily corrupted us. Mind what you say. All I’m saying is that we’ve been corrupted in the past. Power can corrupt anything. Exactly. And that’s why we deny them. … Because they are very, very powerful. So... We're afraid. “HahAH!” Gazer yelled as he piloted his never-before tested space shuttle. “Looks like I already got the hang of in-atmosphere flight.” He took a deep breath. “Time to step it up a notch.” :/engage shipmode launch| -ENGAGING ORBITAL LAUNCH SEQUENCE… The shuttle tilted down, picked up some speed, then tilted all the way up. Gazer focused his mind on powering the converter and doubling the engine rate, along with the levitation coils. -ALL THRUSTERS ACTIVE. He hit a button, and the rockets flared up and sent the shuttle soaring up at a tremendous speed. “Yyyyeehooooooo!!” He cheered as he was forced back into his seat. “This is it!” \v/\V/\v/ Princess Celestia wasn’t doing anything in particular. She had just finished some paperwork, and was about to oversee some project in the Canterlot archives. She was about to get up from her throne when a royal guard came rushing in. “Your Highness!” He yelled. “An unidentified object has been spotted flying up into the sky!” Celestia looked out the window. A clouded object was rocketing straight up. “Get A.R.C. in the air immediately,” She ordered. “I want to know what it is, and I want it on the ground.” “Yes, my princess!” The guard ran out of the room and sprinted to the guard barracks. He used his magic to announce loudly, “Attention! This is a code red A.R.C., repeat, a code red A.R.C.!” Several pegasi swiftly put their gear on. “We have an unidentified flying object attempting to leave atmosphere. Identify, ground, and if necessary, neutralize the target. Repeat…” Once the pegasi were all suited up, they exited through a door to a room with an opening roof. They took off flying, and the thrusters on their wings ignited, propelling them up into the air, rocketing towards the unidentified object, one after another. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer’s body started to ache. He realized that he had been tensed up the whole time the ship was rumbling upwards. He relaxed a bit, but kept his hooves on the handles. He sighed. “I’m actually going to do it,” he said to himself. “I’m going into space.” Suddenly, there was a loud CLUNK on the left side of the ship. He looked left, and right there, pressed against the port window, was a wide-eyed Crystal Sky in a high-tech full-body suit. “…What?” “Gazer?!” Crystal said. Gazer narrowed his eyes. “That glass is soundproof…” “I’m hacking your comms unit,” Crystal replied. “Oh… okay.” Gazer looked to the forward window. There was a pause. Crystal quickly shook her head. “Wh- wa- Gazer?! What’re you doing?!” “I’m going to space,” Gazer answered, not looking at her. “What’re you doing?” “You promised me you wouldn’t do anything stupid!” Crystal shouted. “That I did.” “And?!” “A stupid pony would have a reeeaaally hard time with this.” “You disobeyed a direct order from the princess!” “Not necessarily.” Gazer looked at her. “She denied the project. I, afterwards, then created a new, personal project, which just happened to be similar. I made it from my own parts, with my own tools, and my own time. And no one told me I can’t fly it in my own personal airspace.” He looked away again. “Well, I’m telling you,” Crystal said with authority. “By the order of the Ariel Reconnaissance Control, and the princesses of Equestria, land your vehicle and surrender, or there will be dire consequences.” A yellow light went off on the dashboard. Gazer looked at her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Sorry for what?” He gritted his teeth and inhaled. “You’re standing on one of the first stage thrusters.” He pressed a button and the thrusters disengaged from the ship, quickly taking Crystal with them. She flailed her limbs as she fell back, out of sight. Gazer took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said to himself. “Let’s see how maneuverable this baby is…” “Sky! You alright?!” Sonic Boomer asked. “I’m fine,” replied Crystal, regaining her balance. Four metal cylinders fell from the cloud of smoke. “But he’s not giving up easily. We’re gonna have to ground him.” “Understood,” Sonic said. “Wing 5, take up top!” One of the pegasi increased his thrusters and flew up, past the shuttle. “Wing 4 and 6, flanking positions!” Two more flew to either side of it. “2 and 3, tri-pincer move, upward approach!” Crystal, Sonic, and Wing 2 moved to a triangle formation underneath the now-clearing cloud. “On my mark- 3, 2, 1, mark!” The three pegasi shot straight at the shuttle from three different angles. Gazer saw the blips on the radar suddenly close in on him. He calculated which direction would be best to evade them. The pegasus ahead of him wasn’t quite lined up. He left his right side open. Gazer activated the levitation coils and temporarily charged the engines up to 300%. :status engine -298% POWER -OVERDRIVE -195% HEAT He rolled right and shot upward while pitching slightly up. The leading pegasus tried to compensate, but was too slow. Gazer blew right past him. The three pegasi closing in on each other quickly changed course and circled around. “Wing 6! Wing 6!” Wing 5 shouted. Wing 6 shot upwards after the shuttle, which had strayed into his line of sight. Gazer saw him coming, and quickly rolled left, followed by a leftward yaw, causing the pegasus to miss. Knowing he drifted back into the range of the others, Gazer quickly rolled more left, then did a hard pitch up, evading the entire crowd. “Formation!” Sonic shouted. The pegasi quickly followed the shuttle. Much to their surprise, as they attempted to move to the new location, Gazer rolled right and did another yaw, passing the pegasi and returning to the original position. He reduced the power back down to 100%. :status fuel| -STAGE 1 THRUSTERS: [DISENGAGED] -PRIMARY THRUSTERS: 73% -AUX FUEL: 100% It took a while for the pegasi to compensate. The blue and white sky began to darken. They were getting dangerously high. “We’re running out of time…” Wing 2 said with concern in her voice. “Wings, surround!” Sonic ordered. The pegasi moved quickly until they surrounded the ship. “Scatter! Hit him from all sides, don’t stop moving, and don’t let up!” Suddenly the pegasi started flying in random directions, some straight at Gazer, some in the opposite direction. “Uh-oh,” Gazer muttered, “welp, this’ll be good.” Gazer broke out into a series of evasive maneuvers, dodging the incoming pegasi left and right. They tried coming at him from all angles, even directly head-on. The prototype was being pushed to its limits. The horn clamp started to spark with every barrel roll, and Gazer started to get light-headed. The sky got even darker, and little sparkling stars started appearing. A beep went off inside Crystal’s helmet. “Dang it,” Sonic said. “Dang it, dang it!” He sighed. “All Wings, fall back.” “But sir-” Crystal started. “Fall back! We can’t go any further. If we do, we won’t be able to make it back alive.” Several pegasi cut their wing engines and started dropping out of the sky. “We’ll… just have to let this one go.” “What?! No, we can’t-” “Fall back, Sky! That’s an order!” Crystal hesitated for a moment. She was the last one pursuing the ship. She stared at it, then looked away and dropped down. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer watched the last blip move off of the radar. They obviously weren’t suited for outer space. Gazer smiled to himself and relaxed. The last of the blue sky faded away, revealing the shining stars woven in the black sky. His smile slowly faded. “Well, I’m officially an outlaw,” he whispered to himself. “I don’t know why Celestia would outlaw… this. But she did.” He sighed. “So… this is my dream.” He gazed out the forward window. “To see the stars up close.” He looked out the starboard window, at his home planet, above the stratosphere, for the first time. “…Alone. I can never go back home. Never have friends, family… I’ll never get a chance to actually use my invention to help society. I’ve accomplished my dream.” His expression turned sad. “…Was it worth it…?” \v/\V/\v/ Sonic Boomer entered the throne room, still in his suit, but with his helmet tucked under his left foreleg. His A.R.C. team followed. Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne, with a worried look on her face. Once he approached the princess, he bowed his head and said, “Your Highness… I regret to report that the unidentified object was a space shuttle, and that it was able to leave atmosphere, despite our best efforts. We were exiting the atmosphere, and I gave the order to retreat. I take full responsibility-” “Who was it?” Celestia asked. There was a pause as Sonic looked at her, confused. “Who was in the shuttlecraft?” “We believe it was Dr. Star Gazer Cosmo, Your Majesty,” Sonic replied. Celestia was quiet for a while. Then she narrowed her eyes and looked at Sonic’s team. “You gave the order to retreat to all of your team members?” “Yes…” Sonic replied warily. She looked at him. “Then where is Crystal Sky…?” \v/\V/\v/ Gazer cut the engines. He just wanted to remain in orbit for a while. To look over what he’s done, what he can do, what he wants to do, what he should do, what he will do, and most importantly, what he is doing. Even in space, he continued to do what he did best. Star Gazer gazed at the stars. Star Gazer- gazer of stars. He considered going to the moon. Just to finish what he started. But he decided against it. He decided to just float. Maybe I can change her mind, he thought. Maybe I can find valuable resources in some asteroids or something, then bring them back, and prove that it really is a good idea. He frowned. Wait. I don’t have the proper mining equipment. And I can’t go back to get any. He crossed his forelegs. One thing still bothers me, though. Why?! Why would the princess go through so much trouble to keep me out of space…? Why would I have to be forced to break the law just to test my new prototype…? I just don’t understand it. He sighed and sat there for a moment. His peaceful silence was interrupted, however, when a blip appeared on his radar. It was coming from below him, and it was coming up fast. He powered up the engines, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to move in time. He braced for impact. There was a CLUNK and a large shudder throughout the ship. Then came the noise of a steady clanking sound, slowly making its way up toward the front of the shuttle. Gazer just remained sitting there, frozen, listening. Then Crystal’s face popped into view of the port window. Gazer looked at her. Her expression had changed from angry to… sad. “Star…” she said quietly over the intercom. She only called him ‘Star’ when she was getting intimate. “Crystal…?” Gazer said, now concerned. There was a long pause. “Star… You need to land this thing. Please.” There was no more authority in her voice. She had gone from demanding to pleading. Gazer shook his head. “No. I can’t do that.” “Star, please,” she begged. “You need to. You can’t do this. I can’t let you do this. Please…” She had gone from pleading to begging. “Crystal, I can’t. I just can’t.” He looked away from her and folded his forelegs again. “Star Gazer, if you ever trusted me at any point in your life, please trust me now! You really shouldn’t do this!” The desperation in her eyes had grown. Gazer looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Only if you give me a good reason,” he said demandingly. Crystal said nothing. She just looked at him. After a while of silence, Gazer looked away again. “…I can’t make it back to Earth on my own,” Crystal said finally. Gazer glanced at her. “I wasn’t supposed to go this high. If I start descending now… No matter what I do, I’ll be falling too fast. Gazer… I’m stuck up here.” Gazer shook his head, eyes widened slightly. “That’s not fair.” “Gazer-” “That’s not FAIR!” “-Please. If you stay out here, I’m going to die. And there’s no way for me to enter your ship.” Gazer stared at her. Tears began to fill in his eyes. “Why are you doing this…?” he asked weakly. Crystal said nothing. Gazer thrusted towards her and shouted- “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!” Crystal winced at his shout, and tears began to fill in her eyes as well. “Why does the princess want to keep me out of space?! Why?! WHY?!” “I think we can answer that,” Came a deep, clear, male voice out of nowhere. Gazer looked around in all directions, then checked the intercom. Then he looked at Crystal, who slowly turned her head to the direction the ship was facing. Gazer looked out the forward window. Many stars had disappeared into blackness. Then two symmetrical glowing green eyes opened out of the void. Then another pair. Then another. And another. Soon the void had dozens of eyes glaring out from it. Right at Star Gazer. "...Oh."
Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 4: The WardenEpisode I: Denials Chapter IV: The Warden You said… there are five…? Y- …Yes. You paused there for a second. *sigh*, okay, well, we’re not entirely sure. But we’ve searched for a while now and we’ve come to the conclusion that only five are needed. Buuuuuut… -But, you can never be too sure. So what made you and your team believe there are only five? The only other relics associated with them don’t carry the same traits as the five do. It’s been made fairly clear that each one is designed to be equal. There could always be one that controls all of them, or is the most important piece. Yes, of course, we’ve considered that. But we still need to look into it. So, to answer my question… -To answer your question, no, we haven’t come to a stable conclusion on how it works or what is required… Yet. Very well. No need to concern yourself. Just keep doing what you do and you’ll be fine. Naturally, sir. Is there any… …What is it…? …Sir, it looks like we have another one. …Hmhmhmhmhmmmm. Well, well… How intriguing. I… I believe I am familiar with this one. Oh…? Yes. It’s quite… Unique. Aren't they all...? ...Fair enough. Then come with me. Talk to me while we prepare to… greet it. All Gazer could do was stare. Stare at the green eyes that were staring straight back at him. Crystal Sky was just as shocked as Gazer. Or perhaps maybe not "shocked"... more like... simply unsettled. After what seemed like hours, Gazer finally asked, "Who are you...?" There was a short silence. Once again, the voice came out of nowhere, as if coming from invisible headphones. "Why don't you come aboard...?" it said. The eyes faded out, and a bright, white light shone from the darkness instead, growing in brightness. "...We have much to discuss." The light grew to blinding, then everything went black. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer gasped as he awoke in a cold sweat. His eyes bulged, his pupils dilated, his hearing muffled. Gazer could only hear his steady deep breathing. His vision was blurred. He blinked, slowly and exaggeratedly. He could see a blurry bright light. He continued to breathe heavily. He blinked again, as he attempted to move. His vision was less blurry, and he realized he was lying on his side. He huffed as he attempted to roll over onto his hooves. The sudden change in gravity caused him to cough violently, and his vision blacked out for a moment. He collapsed on his belly, and struggled to get up again. He had almost regained his vision by now, but he could only hear a high-pitched ringing sound. He looked around, slowly and sluggish. He was in a small room with curved walls, made of some kind of purple metal. Lights lined the walls along the ceiling. What appeared to be an open door in front of him showed a similar looking hallway. Gazer narrowed his eyes and stood straight up. His vision still slightly blurred, he could barely see a shadowy figure approach him from the opposite end of the corridor. As the figure came closer into view, Gazer's eyes widened, then quickly narrowed again as one word popped into his mind- Changeling. \v/\V/\v/ Crystal awoke to the sound of strange chattering noises. She looked around, and instantly put two and two together. They were on... the ship. The first thing she felt was... naked. She instantly noticed she wasn't wearing her EV/triple-A suit, yet she was breathing. The second thing she noticed was her mane was a mess, and was getting in her eyes. The third thing she noticed was that she couldn’t move her forelegs to brush her hair out of her face. They were bound to poles at either side of her. She was retrained, kneeling on the floor, forelegs raised up. The fourth thing she noticed was her captor standing outside the room, looking at her through a window, laughing with the others. She blew her mane out of her eyes with irritation. \v/\V/\v/ Shining Armor was on leave. His first officer was put in command, and this was his day off. He had the day off, the whole day, and the next day, and the next day. He was on leave. It was his much needed break. He couldn’t spend it with Cadance, because she was too busy in her new empire. Nothing had happened since the return of Sombra. There were no threats against Canterlot, no conflicts, nothing eventful. So he was alone, on his break, ready for the next three days to be a relaxing, peaceful, uneventful- “We need you to come in, Captain.” Horsefeathers. \v/\V/\v/ Celestia sat upon her throne, with Luna on hers at her side. Normally Luna wouldn’t be up at this time of day, but this was important. The room was littered with guards- spearponies, battlecorns, pegasus archers, pegasus snipers (with the newest crossbow model), and four officers. An excessive amount of military for an excessive amount of important ponies. Next to Celestia was a documenter, ready to record any and all conversations when the meeting began. Sitting in chairs in front of the throne were the advisor, treasurer, the secretaries, the Supreme Commander of the Equestrian military, and the representatives of the public. All that was missing was captain of the royal guard. Finally, two royal guards entered the throne room, followed by a large, white unicorn stallion wearing purple decorative armor. He was also sleepy. Immediately he was sprung out of his fatigue when he saw all the VIPs and diverse soldiers around him. He stepped forward, and all the soldiers in the room saluted at once. Except the snipers. The captain returned the salute and walked forward, bowing to the princesses. He then walked to the only vacant seat, next to the Supreme Commander, who he saluted. The commander obliged. Finally, when everyone was settled, Celestia spoke. “Let us begin,” she said. The documenter levitated his quill and started writing. “I have gathered you all here today to discuss a recent event that may have put all of Equestria in jeopardy.” Some murmurs among the representatives. “And old enemy of ours has been stirred, and may be interested in attacking.” More murmurs. The Supreme Commander looked like he wanted to say something, but waited patiently for the Princess to finish. “They have gotten significantly stronger the last time we engaged them. And I fear much more than Canterlot is at stake.” “What would be the best form of retaliation?” the commander asked, already prepared for total war. “Diplomacy, you barbarian!” the advisor said. The commander raised an eyebrow. “We can’t immediately assume war. We must first know their intentions.” “The advisor is correct,” Luna said. “We must first see if we can evade such a conflict, then, if all else fails, we will resort to retaliation.” “If we even can,” someone muttered. Several ponies turned to see the young Secretary of Intelligence slightly laid-back in his chair, a dark expression on his face. Several ponies looked like they wanted to say something, but Celestia had ignored him. “As I said before, they have gotten stronger since our last encounter,” she said. “They are now threatening every major city in Equestria.” Loud and concerned chatter among the crowd. “ORDER!” Luna bellowed. The room was silent. She gestured to her sister as if to say ‘go on.’ Celestia nodded. “We have a cannon pointed at our head, fillies and gentlecolts. We need to assure the safety of Equestria. Which means we must confirm that our enemy is not going to attack us.” Her face turned sorrowful. “We cannot afford a war of this magnitude…” “Can they even be reasoned with…?” Prince Shining Armor suddenly asked. Everypony looked at him. “What makes thou think that they cannot?” Luna asked him. “They’re animals,” Shining replied, seemingly surprised at how little everypony else knew about the enemy. “Princess, you've seen what they've done before.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “They’re simple-minded, animalistic, hungry monsters. I say we don’t just reason with them, we stand up to them. Don’t back down. Maybe then they’ll decide to leave us alone, and if they don’t, we’ll still be ready.” Everypony in the room looked confused. Except the commander, who looked like he couldn't decide whether to be confused with everypony else or impressed with Shining Armor’s valor. “They literally feed off of love and happiness. Do you really think a race like that can be reasoned with…?” Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Captain, who do you think we’re dealing with…?” she asked. Shining looked confused. “The… changelings…?” Celestia shook her head. “We’re not talking about the changelings.” Shining paused. “Then… who are we talking about…?” \v/\V/\v/ Wait. Wait a minute... What...? Upon further examination, the figure couldn't possibly had been a changeling. Fist of all, it wasn't equinoid. it had no hooves, just claws. Secondly, it had six limbs- no wings- four feet underneath it, two arm-like appendages in front of it, four clawed fingers on each. It somehow bared characteristics of being both reptilian and arthropodal, its black chitin bearing what appeared to be large, thick scales, while the gaps were closed with smaller, softer ones. It was like a cross between a changeling and a dragon, minus the wings and plus the arms. It had piercing neon-green eyes, not unlike the ones Gazer had seen in the void of space a few moments earlier. It seemed to wear a set of decorative black plate-mail armor, lined in blue, resembling another layer of a chitinous shell. It had three horns sticking out of its head, two curved out to the side, one sticking straight out in the middle. What was part of the armor and what wasn't was impossible for Star to tell, for the head at least. It was no taller that an average Earth pony, and no longer than an alicorn. Finally it stopped in front of him. "Good day, Doctor Cosmo," it said in a smooth, young male voice. Its split-jaw and pincers opened an closed rapidly and fluently as it talked. Gazer stood there for a second, glaring at the newcomer. "Doctor Gazer, if you please." \v/\V/\v/ "V'eii is t'ei vrisaet'ir it' kaet'vit'itrit't?" The chittering noise. "S'ei risistith." "S'ei attakkkith es!" The annoying chittering noise. "V'eat ari iiaee, it'vat't-kkit'th?! IIaee thae t'aet t'iith tae k'eait' 'eir! 'Eat'thtsi 'eir! Atsv'ea-sir trest sii atsts kaet'takts. Ritsiasi 'eir at aet'ki! Et'thirstaeaeth?!" "IIis sir!" Sounded so familiar... Crystal's head snapped up as her two captors approached her. She blew her mane out of her eyes again. "Get up." Crystal raised her eyebrow with an expression that said, "dang, how stupid are you?" She wiggled her chained hooves. The two reptilian-insect guards looked at each other, then went over to her and unlocked the mechanism. Sky let her hooves drop with the rest of her body, as they had been begging to do for so long. She sat there (kind of) for a moment, before the same guard said, "Now get up." Crystal raised her left hoof toward them without looking. "Could you lend me a hoof...?" she asked weakly. Once again, the guards looked at each other. One walked up and took her hoof, yanking her up. Except he didn't. Crystal pulled down, causing his face to collide with a rising right hoof. The guard was sent backwards, crashing into the wall. "Trakkir--!" was all the other could say before Crystal swung her back leg around and tripped him. She then sprang to her hooves and ran for the doorway, only to be hit straight in the neck. She collapsed to the floor. "You silly fool. Did you not hear three voices?" came a deep but somewhat feminine voice. Sky felt dazed. She felt herself being pulled up and told to keep walking. She absent-mindedly obliged. As she walked down the strange corridors, she started thinking. What's happening again? Oh, right. It's them. I'm on their... ship? Maybe? Probably. Now, what happened? Oh, right. Gazer... Crystal's eyes widened. Gazer. Gazer! Where's Star Gazer?! Wait, why am I asking myself? She stopped and turned to the creatures behind her. Now, what she meant to say was: "Star Gazer. Where is he." But what came out was: "Wait, w-where's Star Gazer...?!" Had the first demand been said, the response would've been: "He's coming, too. Keep walking." But all they said was: "Keep walking. Tsaevivrirth." Naturally, this caused Sky to panic slightly. She started thinking to herself again, continuing her walk. Where could he be? What happened to him? Wait. What's going on- think back... Gazer... built his shuttle... we tried to stop him... I... I continued... after him... and then... THEY... showed up... captured us... Uh-oh. Oh no... oh dear... oh... no... that's... ... ...I wonder what they're doing about this back in Canterlot. I wonder if... they'll finally use... them... \v/\V/\v/ "First order of business," Celestia decreed, "Getting them back." "Shouldn't we evacuate the cities?" asked the advisor. "We do not even know if they will go through with their threat," Luna replied. "Before we even begin negotiations, we must insist that they return Doctor Gazer and miss Sky." "I second that," said the Supreme Commander. "Then let's skip to the vote now," Celestia said. "Time is of the essence. All those in favor of postponing all further actions toward this matter and focusing on the safe return of the hostages, raise your hoof." Seemingly everyone sitting raised their hoof. "All those opposed?" No one. "It's settled then. Luna, the advisor, the captain of A.R.C. and I will stay and prepare to make contact. Everyone else is dismissed. Captain Shining Armor, please direct the guards for escort." The prince nodded, stood, and turned to the mass of guards while most of the VIPs got up to leave. "Archers, Battlecorns, and two squads of spearponies, escort the VIPs. You, and you, direct them." "Yes, sir!" said the two officers he pointed to. They saluted, and the captain obliged. All three then saluted the Commander, who was now leaving. After most of the ponies had left the room, Shining Armor discreetly approached Princess Celestia. "Um, your Highness...?" "Yes, Captain?" "Do you think... maybe, just as a precaution, I should..." "What is it?" "...Should I tell my sister and her friends... just in case...?" Celestia's face turned blank. "...Not yet. But I'll keep that option in mind. Thank you, Captain." "Of course, Princess..." Shining Armor bowed and backed off, only to turn and walk out of the room, recieving and returning salutes on his way out. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer was led through several corridors, all looking exactly the same. How big is this place? What is this place? He spotted several other creatures that looked similar to his scaly-chitinous escort here, but wearing different, less decorative armor. Most of them were minding their own business, tending to whatever job they were doing. Others, however, stopped what they were doing just to... stare at him... as he walked by. Gazer spotted one group of three in particular who were looking over at him from the opposite side of a large room they were passing through. They appeared to be... snickering at him. Gazer ignored them, and instead focused on his escort's behavior. It obviously wasn't a guard. It was too slender, and it didn't bear any similar traits of the dark-purple plated armor some of the others were wearing, which Gazer assumed to be security, considering the strange wand-like devices they each held in their claws, which he assumed to be weapons of some sort. That means that they must not consider Gazer a prisoner. Or a threat. Or... they were just maybe a bit cocky. Whatever the reason, Gazer didn't have a security escort, but his guide did seem to hold some role of importance, given the gestures he (assuming it's a he, given the voice) received from most of the other creatures he walked by. So all in all, Gazer's visit here was definitely important to them. Whether it was more or less important to them than it was to him was still to be determined. At one point, they came into a corridor that had a window running along it. Gazer stopped and stared out the window. Oh... right. This giant facility that he had been walking around in for five minutes... was in space. More prescisely, in orbit around the Earth. Even more prescisely, right above Equestria. Well, this is one BIG ship. Finally, They arrived at a large door, which opened to a large, symmetrical room, with several computer-like panels, consoles, holograms, creatures attending to them, and one big, green-lined window in the center of the back wall, looking down upon Gazer's homeland. Standing in the center on a raised platform, looking out that window, was a uniquely-armored creature, lined in green. He stood with his back to the newcomers, while everyone else in the room glanced at them, only to return to their business. The escort stepped forward. "Atsv'ea-sir?" he said. The creature turned its head slightly, still not looking at them. "He is here." It then turned fully around to show its exceptionally bright green eyes, staring directly at Gazer. It... smiled? "Hello." He said. Definitely a he. "...Hi," Gazer replied simply. "Welcome to my ship, Gazer of Stars." "Hah... clever." "I suppose you're wondering a great deal of things." He started walking towards them. "Wow, how'd you guess?" "Hm. Sarcasm. How unfortunate. Here I thought you were a stallion of greatness..." Gazer glared, but then instantly laughed. Rather loudly, too. "The first thing you need to know about our race... is that greatness comes from where you least expect it. Why, I can think of six examples right off the top of my head..." "I'm sure." "*ahem*... Right, sorry. Question one. Who the hay are you?" "I am mostly referred to as the Atsv'ea. But you may call me 'the Captain.' Or, 'the Alpha.'" "Yeah, I think I'll call you Skipper. Question two. Where's Crystal Sky?" "She will be here shortly. Unharmed." On cue, the doors behind Gazer opened again, letting in three security guards, one having purple-lined black armor, and looking slightly different than an other crew member. Gazer assumed it was female. With them was none other than Crystal Sky. With a bruised throat. Gazer snapped his head back around at the Captain. "...Unless, of course, she acts... violent." "Star!" Crystal cried. "Crystal! Are you alright?" Gazer asked, looking back again. Crystal rubbed her neck and cleared her throat. "I think so," she said. Gazer nodded and looked back at the Captain. "Right. Next question. What do you want with me?" "You, doctor, have broken a treaty." "A treaty? What treaty?" "The Atsv'ea-Celestial treaty," Crystal answered. "Established twenty three years ago." "The ponies were not to exit their atmosphere, and in return, we would protect them." "'Protect'?!" Crystal scoffed. "I think he means, 'not destroy your homeland' when he says 'protect'." "...What...?" "It was an agreement, and your princess agreed to it. But now... now, doctor... you have broken it." Gazer was silent for a while. But then he gave a quick laugh. "Is that what this is about? Pfft. You don't have to worry about it." "What?" "What?" "What?" "You don't have to worry about it," Gazer repeated. "I've gone rogue. I went against orders. The princess actually tried to stop me. Isn't that right, Sky?" Crystal's jaw had dropped. She shook her head quickly. "Uh, yes. Yes! That's why I was out there in the first place. Our A.R.C. team was deployed to stop Gazer to keep this from happening." She glared at him. He grinned sheepishly. "You'd be surprised how many precautions we've taken. The princess really doesn't want to break the treaty." "So, yeah. I didn't know. I'm sorry. But hey, you stopped me anyway, so, no harm, no foul. Right?" The Captain stood there for a second, then looked to Gazer's "escort," who... shrugged? "I'm... surprised at how well you're taking this, doctor." Gazer shrugged. "Eh. At least I made it into space. I'm happy." "Um... Sir? May I talk with you?" asked the "escort" as he approached the captain. "Of course, Beta." The two proceeded to walk away, onto the platform, talking in an alien language. "So this is reason, huh?" Gazer said quietly to Crystal. "Yeah..." she replied. "Why didn't you tell me?" He looked at her with concern in his eyes. "I can understand the princess keeping this a secret, but, you could've at least told me. Don't you trust me?" "Don't pull that, Star," she replied. "You know I trust you. But you have to trust me, too. It was classified." "Why did you play along, though?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "When I told you about my project. Why did you play along?" Crystal opened her mouth to say something when the Captain and "Beta" approached. The Captain chuckled. "Well, doctor. You're obviously a smart pony. You understand things well. We're going to let the two of you go back home peacefully. I'll even see to it that Celestia will revoke all charges pressed against you, if she hasn't considered doing that already. Still, I can't guarantee the judgement of a monarch." "Diarch," Crystal corrected. Gazer nodded. "Thank you, Skipper." The Captain hesitated at the absurd nickname, but quickly ignored it. "...Your shuttle is waiting outside for you. We will transport the two of you into it when you are ready. We also suggest that you do not tell anyone of this- for your public's own safety, of course." "Of course." "You seem... doubtful." "Oh, well, it's just..." "What...?" "Well, to be quite frank, I think you're underestimating ponies." "What?" "What?" "What?" "Ponies... don't exactly like to be contained, Skipper. They have the need to expand. Every intelligent species has that need. The need to learn, to explore... The need to know. And you, good sir, are depriving them of that." "Gazer, what are you-" "I'm just sayin', it's not the best idea to contain something that really doesn't want to be contained." Gazer started casually walking toward the forward window, which now had a beam of light on the floor in front of it. A similar light was coming from inside Gazer's ship, which could be seen not too far from the window. "Much less something powerful." Crystal started following him toward the beam, less casually. "Um, Gazer..." The Captain got an amused smile(?) on his alien face. "I think you're mislead, doctor. The power your race shows is the reason why we contain you." Gazer laughed as he continued to walk. "Didn't really think that one through, did you? Not the best decision." Now it was time for the Captain to step in Gazer's path. He stopped. The captain had... a... a smirk... probably... and was looking straight into his eyes. "Are you challenging me, sir?" "Are you still gonna tell Celestia to revoke my charges?" "Yes." "Eh, kinda." "Well, I'll let you know the sides are fairly even right now. More so in our favor. And if you really want to challenge us, doctor, many ponies will die. I can tell you that much now." Normally Gazer would stop smiling at this point. But he didn't. He just walked around ol' "Skipper". "Maybe. But I doubt it." He stepped into the beam of light and turned towards them. Crystal stood next to him. "I also doubt if you can find me before that happens." With that, he smiled wider, just before the light grew bright and the two ponies vanished. The Captain smiled. You can run, doctor. But none of you can hide. We are the Warden. And we will find you. Count on it. Author's Note Sorry this took so long. Been busy with school. After this episode's complete, I'll be starting a new story. But don't worry, I'm not stopping this one. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. --Raptor
Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 5: AnswersEpisode I: Denials Chapter V: Answers You'll just let them go...? Of course. ...I... What else would I do? Detain them? Execute them? No. No, sorry, I... I completely expected this. I don't know why I asked. Maybe you're not used to me being merciful. ...I suppose that's an explanation. After all, I was on the bridge with you during the war. ... ...I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- Hmhmhm. Yes, I was quite the ruthless one back then. But things have changed now. ...Of course, sir. Get back to your research. ...Yes sir. ...And Beta? Yes? ...Please. Don't mention the war to me again. ... ...Don't. \v/\V/\v/ "Gazer?" "Yes? OW!! What the hay?!" "DID YOU JUST CHALLENGE AN ADVANCED ALIEN RACE?!" "If I say 'yes', will you hit me again?" "Ugh, Gazer..." Crystal held her forehead with her hoof. "Do you realize... how much trouble we're in right now...?" Gazer pushed off of the bulkhead and floated towards the pilot seat. "Of course I do. Skipper explained-" "WILL YOU BE SERIOUS, FOR JUST, A SINGLE, SECOND!" Crystal screamed. Her hooves pounded the air with every emphasized word. She panted, chest heaving in and out. Her wings twitched and her tail shuddered. But the biggest thing Gazer noticed- the biggest thing- above all else, he noticed her eyes. Her EYES. They shot out at a tremendous speed straight for the head, and were piercing his face, his skull, and his very soul. Then it shot out the back, ready for the next fool to fall into their path of travel. These eyes were the result of extreme irritation and impatience. Two things that did not go well together. These eyes could take the toughest royal guard and reduce him to a crying mess calling for mommy. Were they placed on a god-like princess, it'd probably blow up a dragon, or something. And all this power was being directed straight at the meek blue doctor, who just sat there, half-finished buckling himself in, frozen, involuntary staring straight back into the unblinking eyes of DEATH. He made a small, incoherent peeping sound, which, even with our advanced technology and the world's top scientists and historians at our disposal, was unable to be translated. We do however, know that it was confirmatory. They didn't move for a while, save the deep breaths of Crystal's panting, and the twitching of her extended wings. Finally she sighed and closed her weapons of mass fear, turning away. Instantly, Gazer gave the "All-Clear" signal in his mind, letting himself know that the threat was gone. Not like, "we have won the war", it was more like, "the enemy has decided not to utterly decimate us". Gazer refrained from letting out a loud sigh of relief, however. "Gazer..." Crystal said, eyes still closed, residual anger still in her voice, "...that race has threatened to bombard our cities if we don't comply with them. And you just challenged them to... I don't even KNOW why you challenged them." Gazer remained silent for a few seconds, then resumed buckling himself in. "Well... I don't really think I was challenging him... I was just... warning him." Crystal scoffed. "So now you're threatening the powerful evil alien race?!" Gazer looked at her. "Warning him," Gazer repeated, like he was talking to a wall. Crystal facehoofed. "I just let him know that the majority of ponies won't like what he's doing. And it's true. I certainly don't." He turned forward and started checking the status of the ship. "And I bet you don't, either." Crystal lowered her hoof from her face and looked at him with her mouth slightly open. She didn't know how to respond to that. "I..." she started, but she couldn't finish her sentence. "You know I'm right," Gazer told her, still not looking back at her. "And I'm sorry if you don't like how I handled that situation with my recklessness-" he paused to turn his head slightly so he could almost see her "-but you should know me long enough to know that it's what I do." Gazer's tone had shifted dramatically. Earlier he was joking and cocky- but now he was serious and... well... still kinda cocky. He turned back to his console. "Once we get back- assuming Skipper'll have already contacted the princess by the time we arrive- I'm going to confront her and tell her that we need to act. I don't care how she responds; I've gone against her will once already today, I can do it again." At this point, Crystal managed to gather her words enough to react; "Unless she locks you up before you get the chance this time." Gazer turned his head full around to give her a deadpan look, brows low, eyelids half-closed. Crystal shrugged. "What...?" Gazer rolled his eyes and turned back. "Look. You're right, this is serious. But I need to do this. But first I need some questions answered." He thrusted forward two levers, and the shuttle jutted forward. "The first being..." He turned around again, facing Crystal with a serious expression. "How long did you know about all this...?" Crystal remained silent. Her mouth opened several times to say something, but no words came out. Eventually, Gazer turned back. crystal raised a hoof and opened her mouth to say something- but once again, nothing came out. "Doesn't matter," Gazer muttered. "I'll know enough when we get back." Besides, he thought, your silence says it all. The rest of the way home was in silence. \v/\V/\v/ The doors to the courtroom swung open to reveal a narrow-eyed navy-blue unicorn and a worried-looking aqua pegasus, escorted by four royal guards. They approached, slowly but steadily, towards the princess's throne. Gazer had an enchanted magic-hindering clamp secured on his horn, and Crystal had her wings bound to her sides. Standing next to the princess was Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, wearing a blank expression. On the other side of the throne was Sonic Boomer, Wing leader of the A.R.C. He didn't look too happy when he saw Crystal, who avoided eye contact. The Princess, on the other hand, did not look angry, or even disappointed. But she didn't look happy either. She looked... nonchalantly determined... if that's even possible. The two guards in front of the rogues stepped aside, presenting them to Princess Celestia. Gazer noticed Luna was absent. She's probably asleep at this time of day, he thought. Too bad. She knows me a bit better... She would've been a bit more lenient with me. Oh well. Maybe I should speak first... Gazer opened his mouth- "I'm glad you made it back, Dr. Gazer," Celestia said in a soft voice. Gazer's mouth shifted to one that expressed confusion. That wasn't exactly the first reaction he was expecting. Celestia looked at Crystal. "Same for you, Miss Sky." Crystal nodded nervously. Gazer cleared the confusion from his face and narrowed his eyes again. "Your Highness," he said, "I need to speak with you." Celestia nodded as if to say, I know, but continue. "The alien race that is... confining us... needs to be stopped." Shining armor got a surprised look at this, while Celestia cocked her head back slightly and raised an eyebrow. Gazer continued: "We shouldn't be contained like this. We can't be. We need to expand, and these... aliens are keeping us from that. I honestly don't give a dang about any treaty signed years ago." He paused. "Which brings me to my first question- how many other ponies have thought up the idea for space travel?" Shining Armor looked at the princess, who continued to stare at Gazer. I'm assuming you've already heard from Skipper, Gazer thought, considering you haven't tried to stop my train of thought, or question me as to why or how I know all this. Or... you know... lock me up. Celestia sighed. "Four," she said. "Four great minds of their time. Two unicorns, one male, one female, one Earth pony male, one pegasus male. Two of them are still alive, one retired, the male unicorn, one in a different field of research, the pegasus." A look of sadness dawned on her face. "I've had to turn them all down... Just like I did to you. I'll never forget their faces. But most of all, I'll never forget Sky Watcher..." She closed her eyes. "The Earth pony. He wanted to go to the skies, like a pegasus, but he wanted to go farther. He was the first to get the idea. Everypony thought he was crazy, but once he presented the idea to me, I, being open-minded, approved of his project. He went up, and..." She paused. "...They came down. They told me who they were and what they were doing... and what they had done to Watcher..." Another pause. Crystal was looking at her with saddened eyes, as was Shining, at the floor. Gazer, however, had not shifted his mood. "...I, of course, was outraged," Celestia continued. "I told them that I wouldn't allow it, and that I would protect my land and my subjects. They... laughed, and demonstrated their... weaponry, in the badlands. The explosions they created were devastating... enough to destroy Canterlot in two hits. They told me to sign the treaty or face war. With no other option, I complied. Then came the next innovator, the unicorn mare, whose project I had to turn down. After the pegasus, Spark Wing, presented his project, I denied it, but used his technology to create the Ariel Reconnaissance Control, to be used in keeping others from breaking the treaty- such as you, Star Gazer. After him came the unicorn stallion, who did not present his project to me ahead of time, and instead launched his prototype without authorization, which forced us to deploy A.R.C., who managed to bring him down. After the incident, he immediately retired... I don't know of his current whereabouts, but I haven't heard from him since. Then came you, Dr. Gazer. You know the rest." There was a long pause. Gazer's expression remained static. "Actually, not all the rest," he said. "While that answers a lot, I still need more answers. Next question: who are they, exactly? While I was on their ship, the two alleged commanding officers introduced themselves as 'Alpha', or, 'Captain', and 'Beta'." Celestia nodded slowly. "Yes. Those are the two I spoke to, along with one called 'the Prime'. They call themselves 'the Warden'. Their actual species name is unknown to us, and we do not know much of their anatomy or culture." "Or technology..." Shining Armor added, still glaring at the floor. Gazer nodded. "Alright. Next question. How many ponies know of them- and for that matter, how many non-ponies know of them?" Celestia shook her head. "As far as I know, they have only shown themselves in Equestria, but it isn't too far-fetched to believe that they have a world-wide containment in progress. As far as how many ponies know... not many. Only the highest representatives and VIPs are aware of their existence, including the secretaries, the advisor, the Supreme Commander, and of course, Princess Luna and I." Gazer nodded again. "Alright. Good. The more the merrier." Everyone in the room shared a perplexed look. Well, except Gazer. "Next question. Have my charges been revoked?" Celestia smiled and half-closed her eyes. "Yes, doctor. You're fine." "Cool. Next question. Have her charges been revoked...?" Gazer motioned to the mare standing next to him, who looked at him with surprise, worry, and appreciation. Celestia looked to Sonic Boomer, who looked up at her like he wanted to say something. Before he could, however, Celestia turned back to the doctor and nodded, still smiling. "Good. Next question. I have an idea, do you want to hear it?" The princess paused. "I suppose..." "Next question. Do you promise not to keep me under lock and key so I won't go over your head and go through with my idea, should you disapprove of it?" "...Perhaps." Gazer paused. Eh, close enough. "Alright. Last question... "How much metal do we have access to...?" With secrets come lies, with lies, comes suspicion, and with suspicion, comes the need for answers. As long as there are those who hold secrets, there is always those who seek out the truth... for better or worse. And there will always be secrets. And with secrets come denials, denials of the secrets, the answers, the truth. No matter what, there will be denials. As long as something is denied, it remains the truth for someone, even if, in reality, it isn't. But we, the Warden... we deny your Exodus... We deny your ability to leave... we deny your FREEDOM! And as long as we do... it WILL remain the truth. Author's Note ...And that concludes the first episode of "Why Ponies Aren't in Space"! I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope you look forward to the next episode. Hopefully I'll be able to make it longer. And don't worry- there'll be plenty more twists and turns for you all to enjoy. We're just getting started. --Raptor
Episode 2: Threats; Chapter 1: Research & DevelopmentEpisode II: Threats Chapter I: Research & Development Sir...? What. ...Is... this a bad time, sir...? ... ...What's that you're-- --No. No... it's not a bad time... What is it? ...Is that--? --Yes. Yes it is. Do you want to make something of it?! ...Sir, you know how-- --Do you REALLY want to start something...?! ...No. Then tell me what it is you want and be on your way. ...Yes, sir. The diagnostics you ordered reported perfect condition. Nothing out of the ordinary. ...Good. Dismissed. ... Alpha to Carapace. Respond. Carapace at your beck and call, sir! Have the 'Haetri-vaertsth Agents inspect the thistraeii'ir division. By your orders. I would prefer them to not know of our conversation... Deceiving the obnoxious it'vat't-kkit'th? I'm liking this conversation already. What do you need? ...There's something I want you to do... Four Weeks Later Star Gazer hastily flipped through the pages, scanning each one with unnatural speed for the fifth time. When the pages ran out, he slammed the notebook closed, and his eyes halted. He stood there for a moment, thinking. Then, he frowned, glanced down at the book, then back up. "...Fascinating," he whispered simply. He pushed the book to the side and looked over the other documents. Blueprints, sketches, notebooks... all of different devices. Devices that weren't supposed to be released to the world. Some of which were never given the chance. For better or worse... They were the past four designs of the minds who wished to go up to the stars. Classified top secret, they were for Gazer's eyes only, along with his design team, and the royal authorities, of course. Gazer looked at each one once more. Sky Watcher's combustion rocket... Violet Shine's "Orbital Carraige" levitation system... Spark Wing's Extreme Distance Flight Suit, and the anonymous unicorn stallion's "Magicka-Burn" rocket. Gazer found the last one to be the most interesting. It was like a combustion engine... with pure magic energy as fuel. Combine that with Violet's levitation coils... Gazer frowned. His own system was still more efficient. But he made a mental note to test the "Magicka burn" later. There was a knock on the door. Gazer shook his head and looked around the room. He was in a small, cramped office with stone gray walls with metal beams stretching along them in a skeletal manner. The single lamp suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the room swayed back and forth, creaking lightly. The dusty metal shelves in the back of the room were nearly vacant, while the wooden desk in the middle was littered with notebooks, binders, papers, and scrolls. In front of Gazer, in the darkest corner of the room, was the faintest shape of a door, from which the knocking had come from. It was so dark... anything could be at that door. Gazer cleared his throat. "Come in," he said. The door slowly opened, and for some reason, Gazer felt a sense of relief when he saw that it was only Crystal Sky. "Ah, Crystal," he said, smiling. "What can I do for you?" Crystal looked around the room at the scattered papers strewn over the desk and on the floor. "Are you busy...?" she asked rather quietly. "Of course," he replied. "I'm always busy. It's me we're talking about." He started sifting through the papers. "But what's up?" "I can come back later..." she muttered, backing up slightly. "You can, but I'll still be busy later. I told you, I'm always busy. What do you need?" "Well, I was just wondering... what the heck are you doing, exactly...?" "I'm sifting." Crystal facehoofed. "I mean, what are you doing with all this? What's your plan, here?" "Oh, well... we're going to build another spacecraft." Crystal narrowed her eyes. "Well, yes, I got that, but... Why...? What for?" Gazer paused. "Well... that part's complicated." Gazer struffed his saddlebag full of different papers, scrolls, blueprints, and journals before trotting past Crystal, who followed him out the door. The tunnel they were walking through led to a large chamber that was filled with loud construction noises- sawblades cutting through metal and plastic, welders sparking, workers shouting, and magic twinkling. As the two ponies trotted towards the noises, Sky continued her questions. "You're not planning on getting past the Warden, are you?" she asked. "I don't think I could if I wanted to!" Gazer replied, raising his voice over the nearby drill activating. They came to a smaller section of the chamber, the rest of it blocked off by large construction equipment. Around them were several contruction ponies of all types; Earth ponies operating the heavy machinery, unicorns holding materials in place, and pegasi working on things from all angles. "I also don't think it would be the best move, given our position!" The two continued on their way, ducking beneath equipment and brushing past workers, shouting over the noises. "And what exactly is our position!?" Sky continued. Gazer hopped over a pony whose legs were sticking out from under a machine. He looked back at her. "Grounded!" he called out simply. "Then what is the best move if we're grounded!?" Crystal was blocked by two workers carrying a metal beam. She extended her wings and fluttered over the crowd, meeting Gazer on the other side. "Get ungrounded!" he said as he walked past the wall of equipment and into the rest of the large chamber. They were standing on a balcony, overlooking large groups of workers tampering with big clusters of equipment. While they weren't as close to most of it, it was still loud. "That has to be the first step before we do anything else!" "So what the next step, with this!?" Crystal asked him, nodding towards the center of the room. Gazer looked up at what she was motioning towards, and smiled. "You're not planning to threaten the Warden again, are you!?" "Oh, no!" Gazer replied. "I'm just levelling the playing field, is all!" The two ponies looked at the massive structure in the room-- an enormous metal skeleton of an airship with a closed off ceiling and no balloons, sporting wings with holes reserved for dual engine-like machinery, with patches of metal on and within the structure. "You're crazy, you know that!?" Crystal said. "Thank you!" Gazer chirped. \v/\V/\v/ The two princesses of night and day walked through the main hall, the stain-glass windows shining colorful light on the floor. They said nothing, but they both knew what was on their minds. They passed by each window-- each story. The rise of Discord, the first fall of Discord, the second fall of Discord, the Changeling invasion of Canterlot, the delivery of the Crystal Heart... so on and so forth. Finally, Celestia broke the silence. "Are you sure this is the best course of action, Luna?" she asked quietly, concern in her voice. "It is the best option we have," Luna replied. "And I trust Dr. Gazer." "As do I," Celestia agreed, "but this is a bold move. Things could get very dangerous. I'm not sure if we should devote so many resources to this... gamble." Luna said nothing. "Not to mention, if we lose, many lives may suffer." "I am aware of this, sister," Luna said, looking up at her. "But the doctor knows what he is doing." Celestia gave a slight smile. "You really trust him, don't you?" "Gazer is no fool," Luna said sternly. "If anyone knows how to make a safe and smart gamble, it is he." Celestia looked forward, and her smile disappeared. "But what is his plan?" she asked. "He says he wants to avoid confrontation, yet it looks like he plans on threatening them." "Do you agree with him?" Luna asked. Celestia looked at her sister for clarification. "Do you believe that ponykind must expand beyond the sky?" Celestia sighed and stopped in her tracks, looking up at a blank stained-glass window. "I believe that we are happy here," she said. "Where we are, now. In Equestria. We have plentiful resources, little to no enemies, poverty, or crime, and don't suffer from overpopulation. We have no reason to expand." She looked at her younger sister with saddened eyes. "So why should we risk devastating war to do so...?" Luna looked down. The answer to that was difficult to understand, but Luna had somewhat of an idea. "Perhaps..." she began. She looked back up at her sister. "...Perhaps it is because we are supposed to. Perhaps we need to, but we just don't know why yet." She looked out the window, at the endless sky behind it. Celestia followed her gaze. "...Perhaps it is our destiny." \v/\V/\v/ Gazer and Crystal trotted along the metal floor, passing by the noisy equipment. "I still don't understand how you think we can stand up to them!" Crystal shouted. "Simple!" Gazer called back. Although both of them knew nothing was ever simple when it came to the strange stallion. "We have a strong sense of magic!" They managed to exit the maze of machinery, and Crystal hovered over to him, landing at his side. They continued walking toward an area with large papers posted on boards and lying on desks. "The Warden keep us earthbound because they don't want us in space for some reason. I believe that reason is because they're afraid of us." "Afraid of us?" Crystal raised an eyebrow at him. "With their kind of technology? They must have been in space for years! That means they have much more experience then we do." "Experience, yes," Gazer looked at her. "Magical prowess, no. When you were on their ship, did you even once see one of them use magic...?" Crystal opened her mouth, but then stopped. She looked off in a different direction for a moment, then looked back at Gazer. "No, actually. I never have. They just use their claws to interact with things." "Right! They have opposable claws. They don't need innate magic, like ponies. Sort of like griffons or dragons. They may be able to harness magic through arcane arts or technology, but they don't have a unicorn's ability to alter it directly." "But how do we use that to our advantage?" The two walked up to the desk, where a big, brown earth pony with a blonde mane was sifting through papers, glaring down intently through his spectacles. Two cream-colored mares stood in the corner, bickering over what looked like a blueprint. "To answer that question, I'd like you to refer to my good friend, Mr. Rusty Gears." Gazer stopped and motioned to the earth pony, who looked up and smirked at the mare, taking of his glasses. He nodded. "Ma'am," he greeted, holding out a hoof. Sky shook it. "He's the Chief Engineer of this project," Gazer explained. "I had the ideas, but he helped me get it to work." Gears frowned. "Hey, some of these ideas are mine, too." "I know," Gazer said, walking around the desk. "Care to share with the mare?" He chuckles. "Heheheh... Ah, rhyming." Sky rolled her eyes. "So, what did you come up with, Mr. Gears?" she asked. "The structure of the vessel, mainly." "Oh?" Rusty nodded. "Star was never really good with structure and architecture, so I was able to get his design to work." "By that he means he rewrote my design entirely!" Gazer called from one of the walls, where he was examining a blueprint. Rusty shrugged. "Made it work, didn't I?" He puts a hoof down on the desk in front of him, which has the overall design of the ship laid out on it. "I made it so it could easily fly in and out of atmosphere without damage, as well as sustain a decent amount of stress." He looks over to Gazer. "Star's design would've torn itself apart as soon as it tried to re-enter the atmosphere!" he said a little loudly. Gazer just looked at him with a half-lidded expression and walked over. "Impressive," said Crystal. "Yes, yes, very," Gazer said hastily. "But tell her about what you did regarding the magical network." Rusty blinked. "About what? Magical network? That wasn't me, Star, that was Sparklight." He points behind him at a yellow and blue unicorn mare. "Oh..." Gazer stared at her. "...Right. Heh..." Rusty pointed to his forehead. "Do I have a horn on my head? I'm a technical engineer, dude, I dunno jack about magic--" "Yeah, yeah, I get it." Gazer said, ushering Crystal to follow him. She smiled, shaking her head, and followed. The two approached the yellow mare, and before Gazer could say anything, she addressed them: "Hello, doctor." "Hey, Sparklight. I'd like you to meet--" "Hello, Crystal," the mare interrupted. Crystal smiled. "Hello, Sparklight. How have you been?" Sparklight shrugged and turned to her. "Can't complain. Been working around a lot of noisy machinery, but I've gotten a lot done." Gazer glanced between them. "Oh. You know each other?" "Well, we both spend a lot of time in the castle..." Crystal explained. Gazer shrugged. "Well, alright. That makes things simpler. Why don't you tell her about the magical network, Spark?" The yellow mare nodded. "Gladly. We've figured out a way to pool unicorns' magic together into the very construct of the ship, almost as a way for them all to use it as one." Crystal's eyes widened slightly as she raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought everypony's magic was separate, so that it can't be influenced easily by another. Like, with levitation and stuff." Sparklight nodded again. "Naturally, yes. But some ponies have been able to 'combine' their magic through meditation. However, the process requires time, practice, and a close relationship between the casters-- and it isn't even very practical to begin with." She motioned to an open book she was examining before they interrupted. There were several sketches of an object and multiple unicorn-shaped figures with several lines connecting them in various places on their heads, captioned with arcane symbols. "When combined with just a little technology and enchanting, however, we were able to make a connection." "So what exactly would this do?" "Help focus magical energy," Gazer chimed in. "Help control the ship. There'll be one pilot, and normally one pony controlling such a large object would be extremely taxing and inaccurate. So, with the help of spreading the strain over a bunch of other minds, the pilot will be able to control the ship precisely and comfortably." "I see... does this mean the crew will be entirely unicorn?" Gazer shook his head. "Not necessarily. We only need about five unicorns to support the network, but the ship needs to be run by more then that. We're not being discriminatory here." "Oh. That's good..." Crystal murmured. Gazer paused. "Wait, why?" He smirked. "Did you want to be part of the crew?" Crystal's eyes darted away. "Well... m-maybe..." She looked up at him. "I'm still not sure what its mission exactly is," she whispered. Gazer nodded in understanding and smiled at Sparklight, who nodded back at him. After a while of walking around the facility and talking about the ship, Gazer stood on the platform next to Sky, looking upon his work. "...Do you really think you could do it...?" Sky asked suddenly. "Do what?" "...Go to war." Sky looked up at him with a blank but serious expression. Gazer stared back at her. "That is what this is for, isn't it...?" She motioned to the ship. "It's not..." "Not what? Built for war? Then why are you putting weapons on it...?" "...We're not putting weapons on it." "You think I'm stupid?" Crystal snapped. "I know what that is." She pointed to a long, metal rod jutting out of a swiveling chassis resting near the ship, being worked on by three ponies. "The magical network can be used like a unicorn's mind. That rod is a horn. But not just any horn-- one optimized for a specific spell." "...It's just for show." "You really think the Warden are going to be intimidated by that...?" Crystal's voice softened. "...Actually, I do." Gazer looked at her with a determined expression. "Like I said before, they detain us because they're afraid of our capabilities." He then shifted his gaze over to the ship. "When they see this... they may question if their whole mission was really worth it." "You're that confident in your assumptions...?" "...I'm not assuming. You know I don't do that." Sky looked at him doubtfully, and he looked right back at her. "I need you to trust me on this. Please." After a few moments of hesitation, Crystal nods. As the two walk off, neither of them notice a lamp up in the rafters flicker and die. Author's Note And so begins Act II! I'll admit, this chapter was mostly headcanon. I hope it was at least interesting. Sorry it took so long. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently. I know this fic isn't really known for that, (and neither am I, really,) but I'll do my best. Thanks to those who kept this dusty ol' book in your favorites, hoping it would one day update. Until next time. See you at Ragnarok, --Raptor
Episode 1: Denials; Chapter 1: The BreakthroughEpisode I: Denials Chapter I: The Breakthrough Have you ever stopped and considered… we're doing the wrong thing…? Never. Why? Well… they seem rather peaceful. Why do we deny them? They're certainly no threat to us. *Sigh.* You obviously underestimate them. And you clearly don't know them that well. Well then, enlighten me. In due time. I have things to attend to. Keep watching. And don't worry, it's fine. …If you say so. Star Gazer frantically raced back and forth within his laboratory in Canterlot Towers. His dark blue coat and mane blurred as he ran. His teal eyes darted from side to side, slurping up the information written on his notepad. He rapidly mumbled to himself as he worked, not even paying attention to what he was saying. He dashed from desk to desk, from a machine to a telescope. Finally he stopped to let his mind catch up to him. He started to mumble again, but paid attention to his thoughts. "If enough magic is generated into the converter the energy can be used in the engines and if the engines are already active then that should double the rate of the engine which would then not only power the main system but would power the converter as well giving more volts per magick and therefore accelerating the amount of total energy produced," He took a gasp of breath, "and that would lead to an exponential growth of energy the exact rate of which I need to power my long-distance-heavy-load teleportation spell modifier which could then send me into outer space, and would also let me to transport to other planets, other solar systems and MAYBE EVEN OTHER GALAXIES," He took another deep breath and stood up on his hind legs, shouting, "OH, YES! I AM BRILLIANT!" He stood there for a second, breathing heavily, with a stupid grin on his face. The grin slowly disappeared, however, as he looked left and right. He put his front hooves down, and his expression turned worriedly perplexed. "But… It was so easy," he whispered to himself. "How come… nopony's ever thought of this before?" He looked back at a pile of machine parts. "This is hardly cutting-edge technology. And I may be smart, but I'm not the smartest." He walked up to the large, half-dome-shaped window where the telescope was, overlooking Equestria's Great Valley. He leaned on the edge of an open section of the window. The railing was precariously old and worn, and it creaked every time he leaned on it. "You know, one of these days, you're going to lean on that thing, and it'll break," Crystal Sky would say. Gazer would laugh and say "You know me. I live life on the edge." He'd look at her and smile. "It's the best way to live life- barely." She would always smile and shake her head at that. She never really understood. Finally his serious mood faded away and he chuckled. "You know what? Who cares? I guess other scientists just had better things to research." He raised a hoof out the window, and leaned more on the railing, which creaked in agony. "The point is, I will be the first of ponykind to touch the stars!" he jumped back from the window and ran to his blueprint desk. He grabbed the most recent version with his mouth and tossed it into the air. He ran to his door and kicked the wooden loft column. A saddlebag fell straight on his back, which then caught the blueprint. Then he pushed open the door, hit the light switch, and ran out, closing the door behind him. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer bolted down the corridors, across bridges, through tunnels, all the way to Canterlot Castle. He rushed up to the gate, where he saw an old friend of his, Sergeant Iron Pike, in royal guard armor, with his legendary spear. "It's been passed down for countless generations in my family," Pike had told him. "There's a legend that says it was used to slay a dragon. See this etching here? That's the ancient symbol for dragon. There are three of these- see? These represent Manticores. There are three of them- probably representing how many this spear has slain. I know killing's horrible, but… there's still a part of me that wants to add to it. Y'know, to like, add to the family legacy." That spear was very important to him. Maybe even a bit too important. Gazer slowed down as he approached his friend. "Hey there," he said. "In a hurry?" Iron Pike asked. His tone, like his expression, was blank. "Sure am," Gazer replied. "I've made a breakthrough." He trotted toward the gate. "I just need to present my idea to Prin-" Pike raised an armored hoof and said, "Hold on." Gazer stopped. "Sorry, Doc, but I'm gonna have to scan you." Gazer raised an eyebrow. "What? But you know me. You recognize me. Why do you-" "Ever since the invasion, we have to ID check everypony who comes in and out." He tilted his head down, and his horn gave off a white aura. "Ohhhh…" Gazer said, slowly nodding and staring off into space. "…Right. Changelings." "Yup," Pike said. A flat, white beam of light shone from his horn as he moved his head down the length of Gazer's body. "That reminds me," Gazer said, "did you ever add to you spear that day?" Pike said nothing. The beam of light went back up Gazer's body and went out. "Yup, it's you. You're clear to enter, pal." He motioned to the two guards blocking the gate, and they stepped aside. "Uh, thanks, Sergeant," Gazer said as he trotted forward. "I'll see you later…" Pike nodded. As soon as Gazer passed through the gate, the guards blocked the entrance again. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer continued to briskly trot down the hallways toward the throne room, when he heard a familiar voice. "Oh, hey, Gazer!" He stopped and looked back down the hallway he just passed. Approaching him was a sky blue white-maned mare with brilliant emerald eyes. Gazer smiled and said, "Oh, hi there, Crystal! What brings you here?" "Oh, you know," she said, rolling her eyes, "Surveillance reports. The usual. But hey, I come here every day. What're you doing here?" Gazer grinned. "I've made a breakthrough!" He hefted the saddlebag on his back. "I'm here to present my findings to the princess!" Crystal's eyes widened. "Really? Wow, that's great, but… are you sure you want to address the princess directly?" "Of course I do!" Gazer said as he continued to walk down the hallway. Crystal followed. "This is a groundbreaking invention. And it will provide many resources for the country!" "…And… what is it…? Exactly…?" Gazer grinned again. "Miss Sky, I am going to be the first of ponykind to go into outer space!" Crystal stopped and her jaw dropped. "You can't be serious- you mean you-" "I've developed the first spacecraft prototype! As soon as I get a working model going, I'm going to make an expedition to the moon! You know, start off slow. And Crystal, I would like you to be my wingpony." Crystal blushed as she put a hoof to her mouth. "M-me-?" "Well, yes," Gazer said as he looked at her pleadingly. "You're one of my best friends, you know how to work a computer, you're fairly good with mechanics, and, to be completely honest, anypony else would just get in my way." She giggled. "I would be honored to be your wingpony on your crazy expedition." Gazer grinned once more. "Wonderful! Now, without confirmation from the princess, we can't do anything yet." He started trotting down the hallway. "Without further adieu, I'm off to see Princess Celestia!" Crystal waved as he trotted away from her. "Good luck!" she called. "HAH!" Luck. Who needs it? The word always gave Gazer a laugh. One laugh. No more, no less. Just one. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer trotted right up to the adviser's desk and said bluntly, "I'd like to see Princess Celestia." "Mmmhm," the adviser said without looking up from the glowing quill writing on parchment. "Name?" the gray, white-maned stallion asked. "Dr. Star Gazer Cosmo." The adviser glanced up briefly to catch a glimpse of said 'doctor.' "Well, Dr. Cosmo-" "Dr. Gazer, if you please," Gazer interrupted. "Dr. Cosmo is my father." The adviser stopped writing and looked up at him with doubtful eyes. "No, seriously," Gazer continued. "My father is identified as Dr. Cosmo, and I'm Dr. Gazer. Official documents have gotten us mixed up." The adviser continued to stare. "Really," Gazer said with a confirming tone. The adviser sighed, set the quill down, and sat up straight, looking directly at Gazer through his glasses. "Fine, 'Dr. Gazer'…" He cleared his throat. "What business do you have here?" "I need the princess's approval to start working on a fundamental project," Gazer explained. "And… what project is that…?" "A new vehicle for a resource-gathering expedition!" Gazer got excited just thinking about it. He opened his saddlebag and pulled out the blueprints with his mouth, letting them unfold. "Shee?" The adviser tilted down his glasses and looked at the blueprints. After a few seconds, he leaned back and said, "Ugh, yes, yes, fine, you may enter." He obviously didn't understand what he was looking at, or didn't care. Or both. "Guards?" The guards magically opened the large doors. "Fhank you," Gazer said as he put the blueprints back in his saddlebag and trotted through the doorway. As he approached, he saw the almighty alicorn sitting on her large throne, her shining mane flowing softly without any wind. He also saw a familiar baby purple and green dragon with a quill and a large roll of parchment standing beside her. "Is that all?" he asked. "Yes, I believe that's everything, Spike," Celestia said. "You can send it to the archive now." Spike rolled up the parchment, inhaled, and exhaled, dissolving it in a sparkling green fire. The mist went up and out the window. "Thanks for your help, Spike," Celestia said with a pleasant smile. "Any time, princess!" He replied, standing at attention. They spotted Gazer approaching. "Hey, Dr. Gazer!" Spike said. "Haven't seen you in a while." "Heh, no, you haven't," Gazer replied as he approached. "It's been a while since you've been to Canterlot, huh?" "Sure has," Spike said as he began to leave. "Well, it was nice seeing you!" "Likewise!" Gazer stopped in front of the princess and looked at her. "Now then," Celestia said, "what can I do for you, doctor?" Gazer got a big smile from just thinking about it again. "Princess, you're gonna love this!" He said excitedly. "I've made a breakthrough!" He paused. "Huh. Boy, if I had a bit for every time I've said that today, I'd have- well… three bits… but-" "What-?" "-Nothing…" He sighed. "Princess, I have developed a vehicle never created before. A pioneer for a new age. It will reach places never touched by ponykind. It will gather rare resources and explore new places far away." He pulled out his blueprints and laid them out on the floor. "This is my newest prototype." A golden aura surrounded the blueprints as they were raised up to Princess Celestia, who looked at them earnestly. "I haven't built a working model yet, obviously. That's why I wanted to present the idea to you first, before I started working on it." Celestia continued to flip through the pages, and as she did, her smile slowly faded. "This is… a spaceship," she said. "It sure is!" Gazer said excitedly. "And I think you'll be surprised to see that it's relatively cheap to build! Honestly, I don't know how anypony else hasn't already come up with this, but who cares?! The point is, I'm the first! HA!" He made a small hop. There was a long moment of silence as the princess continued to shuffle the blueprints over and over again. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry. But I can't approve this project." Gazer's face dropped to a level of disappointment and confusion. "Wh… Bu… What…? Why?" "Putting a pony into space isn't exactly a priority at the moment," the princess said, rolling up the blueprints and putting them back in Gazer's saddlebag. "There are more important things to attend to." "But- I assure you, princess, the resources out there are tremendously bountiful-" "Also, I cannot provide the resources required to fund this project-" "Well, it's… It's quite cheap, actually. Hay, I already own most of the parts required, I could just build it out of my own personal stash with my own bare hoo-" "I've made my decision," Celestia bellowed with a glaring face. "I deny your project's approval. Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Gazer stood there for a second, surprised at the princess's aggressive behavior. However, his face didn't show it. His face showed suspicion crossed with confusion and ever so slight disbelief. Eventually he said, "As you wish… Your Highness…" He bowed and backed up a few steps, still staring at her, before turning and walking away. Crystal Sky waited anxiously outside the adviser's room for Star Gazer. She couldn't wait to start working on the project. Finally, she saw the door open, and Gazer stepped out. Her face lit up and she trotted up to him. "How did it go?" Before he could respond to her, however, her smile disappeared. Gazer had 'that look.' The suspicion/confusion/disbelief look. It was a look he always had when something odd or confusing had happened, and he couldn't figure out why. Gazer looked at her. "She… didn't approve," he said quietly. "What? Why?" "I… I'm not sure…" He looked down. "She said it… wasn't a priority… and that… that the project would be too… expensive…" While Gazer talked, Crystal took out the blueprints and laid them out on the floor. "I don't understand… Princess Celestia almost seemed… insulted that I would present such a thing. She's always approved my projects. Why deny this one?" "This is pretty cheap, too," Crystal added. "Cheap to build, I mean." "That's what I said," Gazer looked at her. "I just- I don't get it…" He looked away again. Crystal sighed and rolled up the blueprints with her right wing. "Well, I guess she's just got other things to do. You know, other problems at hand." She put the blueprints back in Gazer's saddlebag. "I… suppose…" Gazer's voice trailed off. "Hey, come on," Crystal put a hoof on his shoulder. "Cheer up, Star. You'll get another chance." Gazer looked at her again. She had a kind, reassuring smile. It somewhat forced him to smile, too. "…Yeah," he murmured. Crystal started to walk away. "Hey, I gotta go," she said. "I'll see you later." "Yeah… see you…" Gazer replied. He watched her round the corner into another hallway, then sighed. He hefted his saddlebag and started walking down the corridor. \v/\V/\v/ Gazer stood on the roof of the walkway to his tower, staring up at the night sky. It was very late, and most of the light pollution was gone. Gazer didn't bring his telescope this time; He just wanted to stand there and gaze. "Why does sleep elude thee, fair doctor?" Gazer turned his head to see Princess Luna walking up behind him. Her wings were flapping from a recent landing, and her mane and tail, bearing sparkles like the night stars, flowed beautifully, despite the lack of wind. "Good evening, princess," he said as his head turned back to the stars. "I was just admiring your beautiful night." "Do not patronize us, fair doctor," Luna said as she stood next to him. "You of all ponies should know that we do not actually craft the night sky." "Just trying to be polite, your highness." Luna smirked. "Yes, according to the local 'gossip', as they say, you are quite the 'fillykiller'." He chuckled. "I still resent that, and I have no idea where that came from." "Hm." There was a moment of silence. "You still have not really answered my question," Luna remarked. "Why does sleep elude thee?" Gazer remained silent for a while. "Your sister rejected my most recent project," he said. "That is surprising," Luna said. "However I have come to learn that my sister's judgment is just and logical, and should be respected." "I never said otherwise. I'm just… Surprised is all." Luna looked at him. He sighed. "Fine, I'm not just surprised. I'm confused. Perplexed. I even dare say flummoxed. It doesn't make sense." He paused, and his eyes dropped. "To me, at least." "Perhaps there is something she knows that you do not," Luna speculated. "Perhaps… Perhaps." "I must depart," Luna extended her great wings. "Do thyself some good and rest, fair doctor." Gazer nodded. "Good night, your highness." "Good night, Star Gazer." On that note, she flapped her wings and flew off into the night sky. Gazer looked up into the sky once more. Then down to his hooves, with his mind racing. Then his eyes narrowed. He looked up again, into the starry sky, with a new look. A look of confidence and determination. "This is either the best thing I've ever done," he whispered to himself, "or the worst." He raised a hoof into the air. "This is my dream. I'm not going to stop now. They're my parts, darn it, I can do whatever I darn well want with them. I'm going into space, whether the princess likes it or not." He threw both front hooves into the air, and yelled, "I AM DR. STAR GAZER COSMO, AND I WILL BE THE FIRST PONY TO TOUCH THE STARS!" Author's Note Initially uploaded to Fanfiction.net- thought I might as well upload it here. This is based off of a very logical point my friend made. 3 episodes planned- 5 chapters each. Hope you all like it!
