The Tale of the Super Secret Spaceshipby metroid_freakChaptersChapter 1 - Another Happy LandingIntermission (Extra #1)Chapter 2 - Ponies Dig Armor PlatingChapter 3 - The Guinea Pig from Outer SpaceChapter 1 - Another Happy LandingChapter 1 Zhane involuntarily flinched as his ship absorbed yet another hit. Those Shivans were getting the best of him and they knew it; their confidence and taste of victory at last was the only explanation behind their relentless and remarkably effective attack. They must be aces or something, Zhane thought as Halcyon performed a barrel roll, narrowly dodging an incoming laser barrage. There’s no other explanation! It’s like they’re some kind of specialized death squadron out to get me! He gritted his teeth and hit a button the heads-up display (HUD). The Halcyon spun and transformed into Warrior Mode, firing the wrist-mounted Shield Breakers at the lead Shivan fighter and tearing it apart with a missile immediately after its shields failed. As two more came bearing down on him, he blasted upwards relative to his attackers and rained green laser Hell on them before switching to the hull-wrecking Razorbeam and finishing them for good. Zhane breathed a sigh of relief as the last remaining fighter fled in the opposite direction. Taking advantage of the lull in the chaos, he checked the ship’s systems. It didn’t look good; the shields, as resilient as they were, were only a few hits short of collapsing, the Shield Breaker and Razorbeam emitters were about to go offline, and the missile generator was completely burnt out. Heavy weapons were still available but without sufficient power, they too were useless. At least I still have life support and engines, he thought as he attempted to activate the subsystem auto-repair function. He frowned as his scanners suddenly went blank. “Damn this stupid nebula,” he muttered. “If I’m not flying blind already, my targeting system decides to fail. This sure is a sucky place for a dogfight.” He hit the console to the right of the canopy and grinned as the short-range scanners lit up. “Ah, that’s...better...” His heart began to race as an incoming jump signature set off the ship’s warning system. As the “you are now royally fucked” siren screamed at him, Zhane returned the ship to Fighter Mode and put on a burst of speed, trying to put as much distance between them and whatever was about to emerge from subspace. Never had a “too little too late” cliché been so well personified as the series of events that transpired in the moments that followed. Zhane barely had time to look in horror as a gigantic Shivan Demon-class destroyer emerged from a tunnel in subspace. His eyes widened and he could do nothing as a bright red beam originating from the colossal warship razed the Halcyon’s left wing, obliterating what was left of the shields and setting a good portion of the ship alight, eating up precious oxygen as it leaked from the damaged craft. Zhane’s shock from the hit muffled the sirens and warnings screaming at him to take some kind of action, anything to escape the alien death machine. Marshalling what remained of his consciousness and wiping blood from his brow, he hastily set a course for a small nearby planet and transferred all the power his dying ship could muster to the engines. Just as the Demon fired the piercing beam again, the Halcyon’s engines lit up and it took off in the direction of the planet. Hoping the ship’s automated evasive manoeuvres would be enough, Zhane took one last look at the rear-view monitor before slumping to his seat and blacking out. *** “Wow!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed from behind her telescope. “That has to be the brightest shooting star I’ve ever seen! Princess Luna sure outdid herself with that one.” “A shooting star?” Spike asked from behind an enormous cookbook entitled Somepony’s Coming: Gems and Jewels. “Yeah! I didn’t know Luna was planning one but...” Twilight was interrupted by a low boom that shook the library, causing several carefully-organized stacks of books to topple over. “Oh my gosh! What the hay was that? Did you hear that, Spike?” “There’s a chance,” Spike mumbled from beneath a pile of of books. Twilight sighed and used her magic to life him out from his prison of print. “We should probably make a note of this. It’s not every day that a falling star actually falls completely. Spike, if you please...” The baby dragon dusted himself off and grabbed a quill and scroll per Twilight’s request, ready to take notes. “Hmm...” Twilight mused. “You know, we should probably examine it just to make sure we know what we’re writing about otherwise my report’s gonna look pretty silly without any actual information.” “Do you know where it crashed?” Spike asked. “That’s the problem,” Twilight replied, somewhat subdued. “The last place I saw it was over the Everfree Forest, at least that’s where it most likely is judging by the volume of the crash and taking into consideration the distance...” Spike gulped. “Come on, Twi, you can’t seriously be thinking about going in there at...night? Why not just wait ‘till morning?” Twilight gave him a look and Spike remembered who he was talking to. Once something piqued Twilight’s curiosity, there was no stopping her from figuring it out. “But that’s not for another hour and 25 minutes...technically speaking. That’s practically forever! I can’t just sit here while something as interesting as a skyrock waits for me to study it! Come on, Spike, I might need your help! I know you’re officially off-duty for tonight but don’t you want to see it too?” Twilight asked excitedly. Spike thought about it, resting his chin in his claws. “20 gems.” There was a pause. “15.” “10.” “Done!” Twilight replied happily. Greedy as he could be sometimes, bargaining wasn’t Spike’s strong suit at such a late hour. As if to confirm her theory, Spike let out a great yawn as he handed Twilight her saddlebags, filled with anything she would need to properly document and catalog her find. “Is that everything on the checklist, Spike?” The dragon nodded. “Perfect! Let’s go!” *** “Oh my gosh, Spike!” Twilight gasped as they stumbled upon the crash site right in the middle of Froggy Bottom Bog. “What...what is that?” The pony’s eyes widened as she took in the strange sight. To human eyes, the object looked like a highly modified, space-age F-22, only bulkier and obviously dual-purpose; however, to the purple pony’s eyes, it was like nothing she’d ever seen before. She didn’t quite know what to make of it. It looked like some kind of...contraption. And right at that moment, her precious skyrock was slowly but steadily sinking into the swamp. Twilight gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and focused on the sinking...whatever it was. Her horn lit up, softly at first, but soon it shone with great light, which she aimed at the object. Spike watched in awe as the light surrounded the skyrock and slowly lifted it from its murky prison. It took a good couple of minutes but finally, an exhausted Twilight was able to relax as the...thing...sat on solid ground. “Are you okay?” Spike asked with worry in his voice as Twilight panted and rubbed her horn with a grimace. “I’m okay, Spike. That was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. It’s definitely one of bigger skyrocks I’ve seen, maybe the biggest yet. Who knows? This could be a great find, Spike!” Twilight was excited and rightly so. Not only had she managed to lift the huge object out of a quagmire by using magic alone (which would surely make Celestia proud), she was now the proud owner of an object that had fallen from the night sky, and practically right into her hooves to boot. “Um...so what do we do now?” Spike asked. “Well, as much as I’d like to spend the entire night examining this...thing, we should probably get a good night’s sleep and tackle it tomorrow when we’re fresh. It’s really heavy so I doubt it’s going to go anywhere so it should be okay to leave it, at least for now.” “Sounds like a plan,” Spike replied with a yawn. “Even I think it’s past my bedtime.” “Then that makes two of us,” Twilight said, using her magic to gently set Spike on her back. “We’ll figure this thing out tomorrow.” That's the thing that shot him down, just so you know. Property of Volition, of course. I just used it for reference. Intermission (Extra #1)Have You Herd? A Brief Report of the Cosmic Earth Alliance’s First Interactions with the World of Equestria To First Admiral Daina Sora, It has come to my attention that as of your recent promotion to First Admiral, you have yet to be graced by the Disclosure of Military Intelligence Act. As such, I have taken the liberty to inform you of one of our most recent discoveries. I realize that your time in the hospital has undoubtedly made you “unaware” of certain developments, hence my communique. I also realize that what you are about to read may come as a bit of a shock, especially since this development was the reason that the Disclosure of Military Intelligence Act was drafted in the first place. Any actions taken in conjunction with the inhabitants of EQU-10 were based off one fleet in accordance with the Limited Fleet Movement and Action Act. While the actions taken by Silver Fleet and myself were well within the limits of the Act, I thought you deserved to know the details anyway. It is likely that as you read this, I am undoubtedly headed there myself for a routine supply drop-off per their request. Please get back to me when you have reviewed this information. Thank you for your attention. -Captain Roman Zadius The official story states that Equestria, or EQU-10, was discovered by a mercenary pilot named Zhane Martin during the Second Shivan Incursion. In reality, what transpired is quite different from the official Earth Alliance records. An older, almost forgotten record buried deep within the bowels of C.E.A databanks states that Equestria was, in actuality, discovered by accident by the crew of the battleship C.E.A Mephisto early into the First Shivan Incursion (insert citation). According to the Naval Registry, the Mephisto was one of three Silver Fleet main battleships in charge of patrolling the previously Shivan-held Kronos Star System, a solar system named for the consistently strange temporal scan data emanating from a nearby nebula. Until then, the system was thought to be uninhabitable and as such, was used primarily for mining and the collection of other resources. The ship came under attack by a Shivan battlegroup consisting of three Lilith-class warships and a total of 12 escort fighters. According to the ship’s computer, Shivan fighters breached the defensive perimeter early on into the fight and damaged the ship’s stabilizers, long-range scanners, main drive engines, and weapons and destroyed seven of her 12 escort ships (five Valkyrie MK2 fighters and two RECON Mobile Suits). In an effort to save the ship, the captain ordered immediate emergency evasion and headed towards the nearby nebula. Inside the nebula, an unknown type of interference caused the ship’s already damaged sensors and navigation controls to shut down. It is for that reason that the ship ended up near a planet invisible to normal sensors. Unfortunately, considerable damage from the battle caused a massive ship-wide systems failure and killed the main stabilizers, sending it to the planet’s surface. However, the ship’s emergency landing thrusters were for the most part undamaged and were able to guide the battleship to a safe landing. After determining that the planet itself wasn’t hazardous, a small landing team including the captain and first officer began a trip to a small settlement they had spotted while landing the Mephisto. Several short-range scans determined that the locals were unlikely to be confrontational so the captain was accompanied by a science team and only a few lightly-armed marines. In the interest of establishing diplomatic relations in order to survive and regroup, the captain took an immediate interest in learning about the strange world and meeting its unique inhabitants. Initial encounters with the “ponies” of “Equestria” were great successes; after meeting with the planets’ sovereign, “Princess Celestia”, diplomatic ties were soon established and their situation well understood. While not as technologically advanced as their C.E.A visitors, the “ponies” nevertheless “performed most admirably, consistently attending to the well-being of the crew and generally performing above and beyond the call of duty”, as the captain put it in his record of the incident. The Mephisto stayed a total of 11 days on Equestria, during which time the injured were cared for, ships and machines were repaired, and empty stomachs were well-fed, courtesy of generous donations by a local apple orchard. Science team, consistently amazed by so-called displays of “magic”, worked tirelessly to understand and control its properties; regrettably, it seemed that the “magic” was only accessible to the locals and could not be harnessed by conventional means. It was later discovered, however, that a powerful energy referred to as “Harmony” was capable of jump-starting the ship’s main fusion reactors, which eventually allowed the Mephisto to leave the planet. After it single-handedly drove the Shivan presence from the Kronos Star System, the ship made a recorded 16 trips to Equestria in an effort to establish more diplomatic ties with the world and its inhabitants, hoping that some day, they could become an ally. It was well-understood that Princess Celestia did not wish to bring conflict to her peaceful world, so as part of an agreement, the planet was to be left alone save for visits from the Mephisto, a potentially dangerous proposal considering the proximity of Shivan warships. Fortunately, the only Shivan threat came from Zhane’s accidental arrival some years later and stopped almost immediately by a joint effort between Zhane and the locals. The exact location of Equestria was kept a guarded secret, revealed only to the top staff in the Earth Alliance, besides Zhane Martin. Today, relations remain strong and although few people are privy to its existence, Equestria and the orbiting Pegusi Station remain safe havens for any damaged vessel or tired crew. Official Report: “Planet EQU-10” - Trade & Diplomatic Relations (Encrypted) Submitted to: First Admiral Daina Sora Submitted by: Captain Roman Zadius, C.E.A Mephisto (former First Lieutenant, Mobile Suit Division Delta) Note: While Equestria’s location remains a secret to most, plans to record a television show on the planet are currently in the works, spearheaded by a major Earth-based entertainment company (identity unknown at time of submission). Please review and advise. As always, a picture of the Shivan main attack ships (if picture won't load, try this URL): Chapter 2 - Ponies Dig Armor PlatingChapter 2 Twilight stretched her limbs and smiled as the morning sun streamed in through her window. Today was the day! There was no time to lose; that skyrock was her discovery and therefore her prize so great caution was necessary to ensure that the situation remained as such “Wake up, Spike, it’s time!” She chirped, jumping out of bed. “Time for another seven hours of sleep? I agree...” Spike murmured, pulling his blanket over his head. “No, silly, it’s time to go get as much studying done as possible! In case you’ve forgotten, we’ve got something pretty interesting to examine.” Twilight’s enthusiasm refused to go away and Spike knew it, especially when she had an academic opportunity of such magnitude in front of her, and especially when it literally fell out of the sky for her. “The only thing I wanna examine is a doughnut the size of Manehatten,” the dragon mumbled sleepily as he yawned and stretched. “Can we stop by Sugarcube Corner on the way?” “Sure, Spike. But no extra icing this time. Remember last week?” Twilight replied, grabbing the saddlebag from last night. “What? I apologized!” Spike protested. “It was all Pinkie Pie’s fault anyway. Her and that “super special awesome secret sweetener” of hers.” “Well, at least Princess Celestia locked it all away in the Vault of Exceedingly Volatile and Otherwise Dangerous Sugar Substitutes.” Twilight said as she made sure everything was in order. “Ready to go, Spike?” “Yep! Lead the way, Twilight.” With that, they set off for Sugarcube Corner. Later... “You hear something, Twilight?” Spike asked as they neared their destination. They stopped and listened intently as strange sounds emanated from Froggy Bottom Bog. The sounds resembled noises Twilight’s magic made when blasting things to oblivion (like invading Changelings) but she was sure that it wasn’t magic; of course, it had the expected effect of making her even more curious. They followed the “pew, pew” slowly and cautiously peeked out at the bog from behind a bush. Zhane grunted in pain and fired his emergency sidearm at yet another Timberwolf, obliterating it with a blast of energy. No sooner had he dispatched what felt like the 50th one, another half dozen appeared, growling and snarling. Backed up against the Halcyon as it auto-repaired, he had to protect the fragile solar panels slowly recharging the exhausted and damaged ship. Those blasted...whatever they were...had already damaged one of the panels and Zhane was not going to let that happen again. He took aim and shot another just as it leaped for him but failed to see another two slowly creeping up from behind. In fact, he never would have noticed them at all had some kind of discharge caught his attention. He spun around just in time to see them get wasted by a white blast. Maybe there was someone else around, someone from the Alliance! Those dreams were squashed the second he laid eyes on his rescuer. A small purple pony sporting a lavender mane and a small horn adorning its forehead stood at the edge of the swamp accompanied by a diminutive dragon-like creature. It was there sudden appearance that made Zhane take another look at his surroundings. He face-palmed. “Awe man, what kind of Mickey Mouse situation have you gotten yourself into this time, Zhane?” He muttered, putting away his sidearm as he looked over at the newcomers. “Thanks for the assist.” He sighed, realizing that he had just tried to initiate a conversation with a purple pony. Still, it was a big galaxy and strange things had happened throughout his rather illustrious career. Although, this one definitely takes the cake, he thought as he slowly came to grips with his new environment. At least the locals seem friendly, although this pallet-color world’s something else. He looked around and then back at the pony and its companion. “My name is Zhane Martin. I’m a pilot with the Cosmic Earth Alliance. What is your designation?” They simply stared back at him, apparently tongue-tied. He sighed once again. “Do you have a name?” “Ahem,” the purple pony cleared its throat. “Yes, sorry about that. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” “Awesome. Where am I?” Zhane asked absentmindedly as he inspected the damage. Considering how many worlds he’d seen, something like this was relatively work-a-day but even so, it had been a while since he’d come across anything like the creature that slowly approached him. “You’re in Equestria!” “Fantastic. If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly are you?” “I’m a unicorn and this is my friend Spike. He’s a dragon.” “Ah. Gotcha,” Zhane replied absentmindedly as he examined the ship’s left wing. He sighed with relief; nothing a few days of repairs couldn’t fix. Of course, that meant spending a few days on whatever planet he’d had the good fortune of crash-landing on. Wait, what are you doing? This obviously an unexplored planet! Maybe the C.E.A doesn’t even know about it! As a pilot and member of the Alliance, it’s my job to meet and interact with alien civilizations even if they look like something out of some cheap kid’s cartoon, he thought as he wiped his brow. Besides, she probably saved my ass back there. “I’m sorry, I’m just a bit distracted. My ship’s been damaged and I’m trying to figure out the extent of it.” “That’s...a ship?” Twilight asked as she took a tentative step forward, obviously very curious. Zhane held out towards it and the unicorn was suddenly all over it as if it was suddenly the most interesting object in the known universe. “I’ll take it you don’t have too many of these ‘round here,” Zhane guessed as he hopped in the cockpit. “I’ve never seen anything like this before! Twilight exclaimed. “I don’t think anypony has, at least not that I’ve ever read about.” “You’re a student?” Zhane asked as he looked over incoming damage reports and specs. “That’s cool.” “Thanks,” Twilight replied as a burning question sat on the tip of her tongue. “If you don’t mind me saying, you don’t seem very...surprised by any of this. I thought that since you’re somewhere you’ve never been before, you might be worried or something but you seem pretty calm about this.” “You don’t miss a trick,” Zhane said from the cockpit. “It’s a big galaxy out there. I’ve seen a lot of things. This is definitely something different but I’m not too worried or anything.” “I’m glad,” Twilight said with a smile. “Spike, are getting all this?” The dragon nodded and continued to take notes and sketches. “So when you say “ship”...you mean like an airship?” Twilight asked, standing just in front of the Halcyon’s nose. “Right again. Loads faster, though. She’s made for interstellar combat and exploration, to some degree.” “So...this “ship”...fights?” Twilight asked, unsure of how something like that would work. “Sure does,” Zhane replied proudly. “It needs to. It’s a strange and wonderful galaxy but it’s got its share of dangers too. Especially...” He paused, not wanting to scare the entire local population with tales of invading alien psychopaths. It wasn’t in the Alliance mandate to involve any new civilization in an Alliance conflict unless both sides agreed and a treaty was signed and all that nonsense. Besides, there was a good chance that the interference knocked out their navigation as well, effectively blinding them at least for the time being. “Know what, how ‘bout I just tell you a few things about myself and where I come from?” Zhane asked as he hopped out of the cockpit. “Would you really?” Twilight asked eagerly. “Sure! It’s not every day I make first contact.” Zhane answered with a smile as Twilight and her companion took a seat across from him. He took a small instrument roughly the size of a cellular phone out of his pocket and placed it on the ground between them. Twilight watched in awe as it lip up and filled the space between them with a holographic projection of a swirling mass of stars...a galaxy. It was remarkably similar to what Celestia had used to brief her on the Crystal Empire mission. As Zhane explained everything from his home planet to the current war with the Shivans, Twilight felt somewhat...insignificant. The universe was incomprehensibly huge and rather daunting at that. Of course, it was still fascinating at the same time. Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she watched the small virtual 3D video recordings that Zhane was able to provide. “This just...I don’t even know what to say!” Twilight exclaimed. “I knew there was something out there but I never imagined there would be this much!” “Yeah, it’s pretty wild out there,” Zhane agreed as a beeping sound emanated from the cockpit. “Well alright, looks like we’re finally up to operational power level. Now we can get outta here.” As expected, a loud roar emanated from within the bog as soon as the words had left his mouth. Zhane cocked his head to the side, trying to determine what the loud stomping sound was as it grew louder and louder. “What the Hell was that?” Zhane asked of a nervous Twilight. “I’m not sure but I think it was…” Also as expected of such an opportune moment of pure causality, an enormous dragon-like beast with four heads emerged from the swamp, crushing the trees and shaking the ground with every step. “…a Hydra!” With that, Twilight ran for it as Spike clung to her back for dear life. Zhane saw them and was galvanized into action. He jumped into the Halcyon’s cockpit and started it up, grinning as the ship’s systems came to life. With only 14 percent power, his offensive options were limited but he was still far from helpless. He slowly eased the ship off the ground and flew off after the monster and its fleeing prey. He waited until Twilight wasn’t in his path and locked on to the monster. “I have you now,” he muttered, squeezing the triggers. There was a pause as the computer displayed an error message citing a damaged weapons subsystem. “Are you kidding me?” Zhane demanded, squeezing the triggers again to no avail. “I guess we’ll just have to do this the old, old-fashioned way.” “Not…this…again…” Twilight panted as she did her best to stay ahead of the rampaging Hydra. She desperately searched for an escape route and after finding none, resigned to simply run and hope for the best. Crash! Twilight yelped with fright as the Hydra emerged from the bog directly in her path. Having outflanked her, it stood between her and freedom and bared its teeth angrily as it slowly approached her. She backed up and backed up until she felt the ground give way behind her. A quick over-the-shoulder glance revealed a steep cliff and she stared up at the Hydra with terrified eyes. “Twilight! Look!” Spike exclaimed, pointing up to their right. She looked up in amazement as the crashed ship, having recently un-crashed, hovered beside them. She looked up at the translucent green canopy just in time for Zhane to give her a thumbs-up. With that, the ship began to change. In a rapid series of transformations during which pieces of metal moved and folded, the ship suddenly stood on two legs like its pilot as if covered in a bulky, edgy suit of armor. It took a fighting stance in between Twilight, Spike, and the Hydra. Although smaller than the Hydra, it did not stop the ship from crushing the monster with a bone-crunching tackle. Twilight watched with a paralyzing combination of fascination and terror as they rolled and fought fang to armored limb. At first, it looked like the hydra had the upper hoof until the ship grabbed the monster by two of its long necks and threw it off. Without giving it the chance to recover, the ship stood up and grasped the creature between two large metal arms and flung it off the cliff. It sailed, roaring and flying over Twilight’s head as the ship rubbed its hands together as if to say “all done” before giving her another thumbs-up. “Meh, he wasn’t so tough,” Zhane said nonchalantly over the ship’s intercom as the machine knelt in front of Twilight. “May I offer you a lift?” He asked, lowering one of the Halcyon’s open palms to the ground in front of the shocked pony. Twilight nodded and gingerly stepped aboard. As gently as he could, Zhane closed the hand partially around them and rose up into a low hover. “Alright, just tell me where to go.” Chapter 3 - The Guinea Pig from Outer SpaceChapter 3 Needless to say, Zhane’s arrival and subsequent parking job beside the library caused quite a commotion and within mere moments, a sizeable crowd of curious bystanders had gathered. All at once, Twilight was bombarded by inquiries regarding the circumstances of her arrival. Thinking quickly, she realized that it was a perfect opportunity to introduce the traveler to practically everyone and get it out of the way so they could both go about their business. “Ahem,” she cleared her throat whilst perched on the Halcyon’s wing. She frowned and her horn lit up. She directed a small spark towards her neck, upon reaching which it disappeared. “AHEM!” The crowd of ponies stopped their chatter and looked up at the purple pony. “As you all can see, we have a visitor. Zhane, would you like to introduce yourself?” She asked as the starship’s canopy opened. “Um...hello there,” he said, gazing over the crowd. The reaction was mixed; some looked up in fear, others with curious expressions, and even a few with fascinated look son their faces. However, those were few and far between and Zhane knew it wasn’t gonna be easy for either party to acclimatize to the new situation, temporary as it may be. He cleared his throat, remembering proper protocol. “My name is Zhane Martin. I am a freelance pilot with the Cosmic-Earth Alliance. I...come in peace?” He wasn’t sure what else to say. Most pilots simply drew what they’d heard from related forms of media and ran with it and it usually worked. Well, except the Shivans but when it came to them, they were the exception to most if not all of the rules. “What are you?” A small, girlish voice with a Western accent reached his ears from somewhere in the crowd. He looked about and then down to find a small yellow filly with a large red bow standing in the front of the crowd. Hers was one of the rare expressions of fascination, matching her compatriots, a white filly with a light purple and pink-streaked mane, and an orange one with a deep purple mane. They looked up at him in awe as he stepped out of the cockpit and stood on the wing opposite of Twilight. “That is an excellent question. I’m what is referred to as a ‘human’. I come from a faraway planet called ‘Earth’.” “So you’re...an alien?” The yellow one asked eagerly. “Yep, sure am.” He was surprised when their grins suddenly grew into full-on smiles of excitement as they high-fived each other. “Cutie Mark Crusaders First Contact Squad YAY!” Zhane couldn’t help but smile at their antics and silently thanked his lucky stars that at least someone wasn’t calling for a witch hunt. He jumped down from the ship, startling the ponies near the front of the crowd, causing them to take a cautionary step back. “That’s weird, usually Pinkie Pie's the first one to...” Before Twilight could finish, a bright pink blue suddenly blasted out from with a nearby shrubbery and tackled the unsuspecting pilot. “Ooh, my achin’ head...” Zhane muttered as he slowly sat up. He looked up right into the huge eyes of a bright pink pony whose mane reminded him of cotton candy. “What’s up?” “GAAAAAASSSPPPPPP....” The pony gasped as her eyes grew even wider. “This....is...AWESOME!” She exclaimed, bouncing all over the place. “I didn’t think...nopony said...I don’t even....this is so cool! Of course, if you were a pony it’d be cool too but you’re totally different and come to think of it I’ve never seen anything like you before and oh my gosh, you’re so different but I like you anyway friends?” Zhane just stared back at her as she held out a hoof. He carefully shook it and was surprised by an instant hug. “Yay! New friends! My name’s Pinkie Pie and I’m gonna throw a party just for you!” “I...I...um...” Zhane stuttered. While gunshots and angry soldiers were no surprise during some of his less-than-stellar first encounters, a party certainly was and Zhane wasn’t sure which he should be more worried about. However, the apparent lack of killing machines comforted him and he felt less nervous by the minute. “Don’t worry, she’s just being Pinkie Pie,” Twilight assured him. “In that case sure, if it’s not too much trouble...” “Trouble? It’ll be fun! I’ve never thrown a party for an alien before!” With that, she bounced happily away, going over numerous food and activities to nopony in particular in a cheerful singsong voice. “Well, that was interesting alright,” Zhane commented as the crowd dissipated. “You sure I’m not gonna get lynched or something?” “No, you’ll be fine. How bad is the damage?” Twilight asked as Zhane looked the ship over and consulted the device clasped to his wrist. “It’s not good. I can manage but I would need at least a week to get basic systems up and running and another week to get everything back to perfect shape. That last transformation drained most of the remaining power. It’s a miracle that we made it all the way here.” Zhane sighed and turned the holoscreen off. “I hate to ask this of you but do you have a place I could do some repairs like...a garage or something? I have all the tools I need but I need some space to work. Not a lot; just enough for me, my equipment, and my ship.” Twilight thought about it. “Well, Applejack might have some spare room in her barn but that’s pretty far out of Ponyville and I’m pretty sure that they need the space for the harvest right now. Besides, it’s pretty far from Ponyville, which doesn’t suit you if you ever need something.” Zhane nodded. “Well then...we could always build something that would suit your requirements.” “That’s really nice of you to offer but I can’t ask you to do that,” Zhane replied with a smile. “I’ll make do with a barn even if it isn’t the most convenient location.” It was too late; Twilight was already jotting down notes on a piece of parchment. “I’m not much of an architect,” Twilight said as she crossed something out. “We need an expert if we’re going to do this right, someone who knows everything there is to know about things with wings...” The lavender unicorn mused with a hoof to her mouth. “Seriously, I can just work on it out...” There was a sudden clap of thunder as rain began to pelt Ponyville. “...side.” Zhane finished. “Come to think of it, a roof over my head would be nice.” “That’s just what I was thinking,” Twilight replied, motioning for him to follow her into the huge tree. “You’ll need somewhere to stay for the time being...wait, that’s it! Why don’t you stay here?” She asked excitedly. “You mean...in a library?” The rows of books made it pretty clear where they were and answered some of Zhane’s questions about this ‘Twilight Sparkle’. What a student she must be to be in charge of such a wealth of knowledge at such a young age! Mad respect, Zhane thought as he wandered about whilst examining some of the titles. “I mean, if you have room for me...then sure, why not?” “Great!” Twilight tried not to sound too excited but simply could not contain herself. Sacrificing some living space for the chance to study such an exotic creature up close for close to a month was an easy trade-off. Of course, ensuring that their new guest was comfortable and had everything he needed was paramount and even though Twilight was well-aware of that fact, it didn’t help her curiosity. Zhane seemed to sense it. “Y’know, it’s not fair to you if I stay here taking up your space and eating your food and whatnot so how about this? You put me up until my repairs are done and in return, I share everything I can about Earth and space and stuff? I can’t share anything military-related but I’ll tell you anything else you wanna know. Deal?” Zhane was pretty sure that such terms were already implied but he wanted to make it sound more like he was putting in a conscious effort to earn his keep. He breathed a sigh of relief as the purple pony smiled widely and shook his hand. “It’s a deal! And don’t worry; you’ll have all the time you need to work on your ship.” “No problem, I can only do about three or four hours a day anyway. Most of the repairs are automatic; they just need some ‘help’ to get started.” Zhane assured her. Twilight was ecstatic; seldom was a scientific ‘specimen’ destined for intensive study also a willing house guest. As Zhane slept soundly on three unfolded sleeping bags on the floor beside Twilight’s bed that night, she looked up at Luna’s beautiful starscape and silently thanked her lucky stars. The chance to help another while also receiving valuable information was a rare thing indeed and as Twilight slowly succumbed to sleep, her mind began a letter to Princess Celestia. Dear Princess Celestia, Today I discovered a new...zzzzzzzzzz...zzzzzzzzzz... And that was as far as she got before falling asleep with a snore.
Chapter 1 - Another Happy LandingChapter 1 Zhane involuntarily flinched as his ship absorbed yet another hit. Those Shivans were getting the best of him and they knew it; their confidence and taste of victory at last was the only explanation behind their relentless and remarkably effective attack. They must be aces or something, Zhane thought as Halcyon performed a barrel roll, narrowly dodging an incoming laser barrage. There’s no other explanation! It’s like they’re some kind of specialized death squadron out to get me! He gritted his teeth and hit a button the heads-up display (HUD). The Halcyon spun and transformed into Warrior Mode, firing the wrist-mounted Shield Breakers at the lead Shivan fighter and tearing it apart with a missile immediately after its shields failed. As two more came bearing down on him, he blasted upwards relative to his attackers and rained green laser Hell on them before switching to the hull-wrecking Razorbeam and finishing them for good. Zhane breathed a sigh of relief as the last remaining fighter fled in the opposite direction. Taking advantage of the lull in the chaos, he checked the ship’s systems. It didn’t look good; the shields, as resilient as they were, were only a few hits short of collapsing, the Shield Breaker and Razorbeam emitters were about to go offline, and the missile generator was completely burnt out. Heavy weapons were still available but without sufficient power, they too were useless. At least I still have life support and engines, he thought as he attempted to activate the subsystem auto-repair function. He frowned as his scanners suddenly went blank. “Damn this stupid nebula,” he muttered. “If I’m not flying blind already, my targeting system decides to fail. This sure is a sucky place for a dogfight.” He hit the console to the right of the canopy and grinned as the short-range scanners lit up. “Ah, that’s...better...” His heart began to race as an incoming jump signature set off the ship’s warning system. As the “you are now royally fucked” siren screamed at him, Zhane returned the ship to Fighter Mode and put on a burst of speed, trying to put as much distance between them and whatever was about to emerge from subspace. Never had a “too little too late” cliché been so well personified as the series of events that transpired in the moments that followed. Zhane barely had time to look in horror as a gigantic Shivan Demon-class destroyer emerged from a tunnel in subspace. His eyes widened and he could do nothing as a bright red beam originating from the colossal warship razed the Halcyon’s left wing, obliterating what was left of the shields and setting a good portion of the ship alight, eating up precious oxygen as it leaked from the damaged craft. Zhane’s shock from the hit muffled the sirens and warnings screaming at him to take some kind of action, anything to escape the alien death machine. Marshalling what remained of his consciousness and wiping blood from his brow, he hastily set a course for a small nearby planet and transferred all the power his dying ship could muster to the engines. Just as the Demon fired the piercing beam again, the Halcyon’s engines lit up and it took off in the direction of the planet. Hoping the ship’s automated evasive manoeuvres would be enough, Zhane took one last look at the rear-view monitor before slumping to his seat and blacking out. *** “Wow!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed from behind her telescope. “That has to be the brightest shooting star I’ve ever seen! Princess Luna sure outdid herself with that one.” “A shooting star?” Spike asked from behind an enormous cookbook entitled Somepony’s Coming: Gems and Jewels. “Yeah! I didn’t know Luna was planning one but...” Twilight was interrupted by a low boom that shook the library, causing several carefully-organized stacks of books to topple over. “Oh my gosh! What the hay was that? Did you hear that, Spike?” “There’s a chance,” Spike mumbled from beneath a pile of of books. Twilight sighed and used her magic to life him out from his prison of print. “We should probably make a note of this. It’s not every day that a falling star actually falls completely. Spike, if you please...” The baby dragon dusted himself off and grabbed a quill and scroll per Twilight’s request, ready to take notes. “Hmm...” Twilight mused. “You know, we should probably examine it just to make sure we know what we’re writing about otherwise my report’s gonna look pretty silly without any actual information.” “Do you know where it crashed?” Spike asked. “That’s the problem,” Twilight replied, somewhat subdued. “The last place I saw it was over the Everfree Forest, at least that’s where it most likely is judging by the volume of the crash and taking into consideration the distance...” Spike gulped. “Come on, Twi, you can’t seriously be thinking about going in there at...night? Why not just wait ‘till morning?” Twilight gave him a look and Spike remembered who he was talking to. Once something piqued Twilight’s curiosity, there was no stopping her from figuring it out. “But that’s not for another hour and 25 minutes...technically speaking. That’s practically forever! I can’t just sit here while something as interesting as a skyrock waits for me to study it! Come on, Spike, I might need your help! I know you’re officially off-duty for tonight but don’t you want to see it too?” Twilight asked excitedly. Spike thought about it, resting his chin in his claws. “20 gems.” There was a pause. “15.” “10.” “Done!” Twilight replied happily. Greedy as he could be sometimes, bargaining wasn’t Spike’s strong suit at such a late hour. As if to confirm her theory, Spike let out a great yawn as he handed Twilight her saddlebags, filled with anything she would need to properly document and catalog her find. “Is that everything on the checklist, Spike?” The dragon nodded. “Perfect! Let’s go!” *** “Oh my gosh, Spike!” Twilight gasped as they stumbled upon the crash site right in the middle of Froggy Bottom Bog. “What...what is that?” The pony’s eyes widened as she took in the strange sight. To human eyes, the object looked like a highly modified, space-age F-22, only bulkier and obviously dual-purpose; however, to the purple pony’s eyes, it was like nothing she’d ever seen before. She didn’t quite know what to make of it. It looked like some kind of...contraption. And right at that moment, her precious skyrock was slowly but steadily sinking into the swamp. Twilight gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and focused on the sinking...whatever it was. Her horn lit up, softly at first, but soon it shone with great light, which she aimed at the object. Spike watched in awe as the light surrounded the skyrock and slowly lifted it from its murky prison. It took a good couple of minutes but finally, an exhausted Twilight was able to relax as the...thing...sat on solid ground. “Are you okay?” Spike asked with worry in his voice as Twilight panted and rubbed her horn with a grimace. “I’m okay, Spike. That was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. It’s definitely one of bigger skyrocks I’ve seen, maybe the biggest yet. Who knows? This could be a great find, Spike!” Twilight was excited and rightly so. Not only had she managed to lift the huge object out of a quagmire by using magic alone (which would surely make Celestia proud), she was now the proud owner of an object that had fallen from the night sky, and practically right into her hooves to boot. “Um...so what do we do now?” Spike asked. “Well, as much as I’d like to spend the entire night examining this...thing, we should probably get a good night’s sleep and tackle it tomorrow when we’re fresh. It’s really heavy so I doubt it’s going to go anywhere so it should be okay to leave it, at least for now.” “Sounds like a plan,” Spike replied with a yawn. “Even I think it’s past my bedtime.” “Then that makes two of us,” Twilight said, using her magic to gently set Spike on her back. “We’ll figure this thing out tomorrow.” That's the thing that shot him down, just so you know. Property of Volition, of course. I just used it for reference.
Intermission (Extra #1)Have You Herd? A Brief Report of the Cosmic Earth Alliance’s First Interactions with the World of Equestria To First Admiral Daina Sora, It has come to my attention that as of your recent promotion to First Admiral, you have yet to be graced by the Disclosure of Military Intelligence Act. As such, I have taken the liberty to inform you of one of our most recent discoveries. I realize that your time in the hospital has undoubtedly made you “unaware” of certain developments, hence my communique. I also realize that what you are about to read may come as a bit of a shock, especially since this development was the reason that the Disclosure of Military Intelligence Act was drafted in the first place. Any actions taken in conjunction with the inhabitants of EQU-10 were based off one fleet in accordance with the Limited Fleet Movement and Action Act. While the actions taken by Silver Fleet and myself were well within the limits of the Act, I thought you deserved to know the details anyway. It is likely that as you read this, I am undoubtedly headed there myself for a routine supply drop-off per their request. Please get back to me when you have reviewed this information. Thank you for your attention. -Captain Roman Zadius The official story states that Equestria, or EQU-10, was discovered by a mercenary pilot named Zhane Martin during the Second Shivan Incursion. In reality, what transpired is quite different from the official Earth Alliance records. An older, almost forgotten record buried deep within the bowels of C.E.A databanks states that Equestria was, in actuality, discovered by accident by the crew of the battleship C.E.A Mephisto early into the First Shivan Incursion (insert citation). According to the Naval Registry, the Mephisto was one of three Silver Fleet main battleships in charge of patrolling the previously Shivan-held Kronos Star System, a solar system named for the consistently strange temporal scan data emanating from a nearby nebula. Until then, the system was thought to be uninhabitable and as such, was used primarily for mining and the collection of other resources. The ship came under attack by a Shivan battlegroup consisting of three Lilith-class warships and a total of 12 escort fighters. According to the ship’s computer, Shivan fighters breached the defensive perimeter early on into the fight and damaged the ship’s stabilizers, long-range scanners, main drive engines, and weapons and destroyed seven of her 12 escort ships (five Valkyrie MK2 fighters and two RECON Mobile Suits). In an effort to save the ship, the captain ordered immediate emergency evasion and headed towards the nearby nebula. Inside the nebula, an unknown type of interference caused the ship’s already damaged sensors and navigation controls to shut down. It is for that reason that the ship ended up near a planet invisible to normal sensors. Unfortunately, considerable damage from the battle caused a massive ship-wide systems failure and killed the main stabilizers, sending it to the planet’s surface. However, the ship’s emergency landing thrusters were for the most part undamaged and were able to guide the battleship to a safe landing. After determining that the planet itself wasn’t hazardous, a small landing team including the captain and first officer began a trip to a small settlement they had spotted while landing the Mephisto. Several short-range scans determined that the locals were unlikely to be confrontational so the captain was accompanied by a science team and only a few lightly-armed marines. In the interest of establishing diplomatic relations in order to survive and regroup, the captain took an immediate interest in learning about the strange world and meeting its unique inhabitants. Initial encounters with the “ponies” of “Equestria” were great successes; after meeting with the planets’ sovereign, “Princess Celestia”, diplomatic ties were soon established and their situation well understood. While not as technologically advanced as their C.E.A visitors, the “ponies” nevertheless “performed most admirably, consistently attending to the well-being of the crew and generally performing above and beyond the call of duty”, as the captain put it in his record of the incident. The Mephisto stayed a total of 11 days on Equestria, during which time the injured were cared for, ships and machines were repaired, and empty stomachs were well-fed, courtesy of generous donations by a local apple orchard. Science team, consistently amazed by so-called displays of “magic”, worked tirelessly to understand and control its properties; regrettably, it seemed that the “magic” was only accessible to the locals and could not be harnessed by conventional means. It was later discovered, however, that a powerful energy referred to as “Harmony” was capable of jump-starting the ship’s main fusion reactors, which eventually allowed the Mephisto to leave the planet. After it single-handedly drove the Shivan presence from the Kronos Star System, the ship made a recorded 16 trips to Equestria in an effort to establish more diplomatic ties with the world and its inhabitants, hoping that some day, they could become an ally. It was well-understood that Princess Celestia did not wish to bring conflict to her peaceful world, so as part of an agreement, the planet was to be left alone save for visits from the Mephisto, a potentially dangerous proposal considering the proximity of Shivan warships. Fortunately, the only Shivan threat came from Zhane’s accidental arrival some years later and stopped almost immediately by a joint effort between Zhane and the locals. The exact location of Equestria was kept a guarded secret, revealed only to the top staff in the Earth Alliance, besides Zhane Martin. Today, relations remain strong and although few people are privy to its existence, Equestria and the orbiting Pegusi Station remain safe havens for any damaged vessel or tired crew. Official Report: “Planet EQU-10” - Trade & Diplomatic Relations (Encrypted) Submitted to: First Admiral Daina Sora Submitted by: Captain Roman Zadius, C.E.A Mephisto (former First Lieutenant, Mobile Suit Division Delta) Note: While Equestria’s location remains a secret to most, plans to record a television show on the planet are currently in the works, spearheaded by a major Earth-based entertainment company (identity unknown at time of submission). Please review and advise. As always, a picture of the Shivan main attack ships (if picture won't load, try this URL):
Chapter 2 - Ponies Dig Armor PlatingChapter 2 Twilight stretched her limbs and smiled as the morning sun streamed in through her window. Today was the day! There was no time to lose; that skyrock was her discovery and therefore her prize so great caution was necessary to ensure that the situation remained as such “Wake up, Spike, it’s time!” She chirped, jumping out of bed. “Time for another seven hours of sleep? I agree...” Spike murmured, pulling his blanket over his head. “No, silly, it’s time to go get as much studying done as possible! In case you’ve forgotten, we’ve got something pretty interesting to examine.” Twilight’s enthusiasm refused to go away and Spike knew it, especially when she had an academic opportunity of such magnitude in front of her, and especially when it literally fell out of the sky for her. “The only thing I wanna examine is a doughnut the size of Manehatten,” the dragon mumbled sleepily as he yawned and stretched. “Can we stop by Sugarcube Corner on the way?” “Sure, Spike. But no extra icing this time. Remember last week?” Twilight replied, grabbing the saddlebag from last night. “What? I apologized!” Spike protested. “It was all Pinkie Pie’s fault anyway. Her and that “super special awesome secret sweetener” of hers.” “Well, at least Princess Celestia locked it all away in the Vault of Exceedingly Volatile and Otherwise Dangerous Sugar Substitutes.” Twilight said as she made sure everything was in order. “Ready to go, Spike?” “Yep! Lead the way, Twilight.” With that, they set off for Sugarcube Corner. Later... “You hear something, Twilight?” Spike asked as they neared their destination. They stopped and listened intently as strange sounds emanated from Froggy Bottom Bog. The sounds resembled noises Twilight’s magic made when blasting things to oblivion (like invading Changelings) but she was sure that it wasn’t magic; of course, it had the expected effect of making her even more curious. They followed the “pew, pew” slowly and cautiously peeked out at the bog from behind a bush. Zhane grunted in pain and fired his emergency sidearm at yet another Timberwolf, obliterating it with a blast of energy. No sooner had he dispatched what felt like the 50th one, another half dozen appeared, growling and snarling. Backed up against the Halcyon as it auto-repaired, he had to protect the fragile solar panels slowly recharging the exhausted and damaged ship. Those blasted...whatever they were...had already damaged one of the panels and Zhane was not going to let that happen again. He took aim and shot another just as it leaped for him but failed to see another two slowly creeping up from behind. In fact, he never would have noticed them at all had some kind of discharge caught his attention. He spun around just in time to see them get wasted by a white blast. Maybe there was someone else around, someone from the Alliance! Those dreams were squashed the second he laid eyes on his rescuer. A small purple pony sporting a lavender mane and a small horn adorning its forehead stood at the edge of the swamp accompanied by a diminutive dragon-like creature. It was there sudden appearance that made Zhane take another look at his surroundings. He face-palmed. “Awe man, what kind of Mickey Mouse situation have you gotten yourself into this time, Zhane?” He muttered, putting away his sidearm as he looked over at the newcomers. “Thanks for the assist.” He sighed, realizing that he had just tried to initiate a conversation with a purple pony. Still, it was a big galaxy and strange things had happened throughout his rather illustrious career. Although, this one definitely takes the cake, he thought as he slowly came to grips with his new environment. At least the locals seem friendly, although this pallet-color world’s something else. He looked around and then back at the pony and its companion. “My name is Zhane Martin. I’m a pilot with the Cosmic Earth Alliance. What is your designation?” They simply stared back at him, apparently tongue-tied. He sighed once again. “Do you have a name?” “Ahem,” the purple pony cleared its throat. “Yes, sorry about that. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” “Awesome. Where am I?” Zhane asked absentmindedly as he inspected the damage. Considering how many worlds he’d seen, something like this was relatively work-a-day but even so, it had been a while since he’d come across anything like the creature that slowly approached him. “You’re in Equestria!” “Fantastic. If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly are you?” “I’m a unicorn and this is my friend Spike. He’s a dragon.” “Ah. Gotcha,” Zhane replied absentmindedly as he examined the ship’s left wing. He sighed with relief; nothing a few days of repairs couldn’t fix. Of course, that meant spending a few days on whatever planet he’d had the good fortune of crash-landing on. Wait, what are you doing? This obviously an unexplored planet! Maybe the C.E.A doesn’t even know about it! As a pilot and member of the Alliance, it’s my job to meet and interact with alien civilizations even if they look like something out of some cheap kid’s cartoon, he thought as he wiped his brow. Besides, she probably saved my ass back there. “I’m sorry, I’m just a bit distracted. My ship’s been damaged and I’m trying to figure out the extent of it.” “That’s...a ship?” Twilight asked as she took a tentative step forward, obviously very curious. Zhane held out towards it and the unicorn was suddenly all over it as if it was suddenly the most interesting object in the known universe. “I’ll take it you don’t have too many of these ‘round here,” Zhane guessed as he hopped in the cockpit. “I’ve never seen anything like this before! Twilight exclaimed. “I don’t think anypony has, at least not that I’ve ever read about.” “You’re a student?” Zhane asked as he looked over incoming damage reports and specs. “That’s cool.” “Thanks,” Twilight replied as a burning question sat on the tip of her tongue. “If you don’t mind me saying, you don’t seem very...surprised by any of this. I thought that since you’re somewhere you’ve never been before, you might be worried or something but you seem pretty calm about this.” “You don’t miss a trick,” Zhane said from the cockpit. “It’s a big galaxy out there. I’ve seen a lot of things. This is definitely something different but I’m not too worried or anything.” “I’m glad,” Twilight said with a smile. “Spike, are getting all this?” The dragon nodded and continued to take notes and sketches. “So when you say “ship”...you mean like an airship?” Twilight asked, standing just in front of the Halcyon’s nose. “Right again. Loads faster, though. She’s made for interstellar combat and exploration, to some degree.” “So...this “ship”...fights?” Twilight asked, unsure of how something like that would work. “Sure does,” Zhane replied proudly. “It needs to. It’s a strange and wonderful galaxy but it’s got its share of dangers too. Especially...” He paused, not wanting to scare the entire local population with tales of invading alien psychopaths. It wasn’t in the Alliance mandate to involve any new civilization in an Alliance conflict unless both sides agreed and a treaty was signed and all that nonsense. Besides, there was a good chance that the interference knocked out their navigation as well, effectively blinding them at least for the time being. “Know what, how ‘bout I just tell you a few things about myself and where I come from?” Zhane asked as he hopped out of the cockpit. “Would you really?” Twilight asked eagerly. “Sure! It’s not every day I make first contact.” Zhane answered with a smile as Twilight and her companion took a seat across from him. He took a small instrument roughly the size of a cellular phone out of his pocket and placed it on the ground between them. Twilight watched in awe as it lip up and filled the space between them with a holographic projection of a swirling mass of stars...a galaxy. It was remarkably similar to what Celestia had used to brief her on the Crystal Empire mission. As Zhane explained everything from his home planet to the current war with the Shivans, Twilight felt somewhat...insignificant. The universe was incomprehensibly huge and rather daunting at that. Of course, it was still fascinating at the same time. Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she watched the small virtual 3D video recordings that Zhane was able to provide. “This just...I don’t even know what to say!” Twilight exclaimed. “I knew there was something out there but I never imagined there would be this much!” “Yeah, it’s pretty wild out there,” Zhane agreed as a beeping sound emanated from the cockpit. “Well alright, looks like we’re finally up to operational power level. Now we can get outta here.” As expected, a loud roar emanated from within the bog as soon as the words had left his mouth. Zhane cocked his head to the side, trying to determine what the loud stomping sound was as it grew louder and louder. “What the Hell was that?” Zhane asked of a nervous Twilight. “I’m not sure but I think it was…” Also as expected of such an opportune moment of pure causality, an enormous dragon-like beast with four heads emerged from the swamp, crushing the trees and shaking the ground with every step. “…a Hydra!” With that, Twilight ran for it as Spike clung to her back for dear life. Zhane saw them and was galvanized into action. He jumped into the Halcyon’s cockpit and started it up, grinning as the ship’s systems came to life. With only 14 percent power, his offensive options were limited but he was still far from helpless. He slowly eased the ship off the ground and flew off after the monster and its fleeing prey. He waited until Twilight wasn’t in his path and locked on to the monster. “I have you now,” he muttered, squeezing the triggers. There was a pause as the computer displayed an error message citing a damaged weapons subsystem. “Are you kidding me?” Zhane demanded, squeezing the triggers again to no avail. “I guess we’ll just have to do this the old, old-fashioned way.” “Not…this…again…” Twilight panted as she did her best to stay ahead of the rampaging Hydra. She desperately searched for an escape route and after finding none, resigned to simply run and hope for the best. Crash! Twilight yelped with fright as the Hydra emerged from the bog directly in her path. Having outflanked her, it stood between her and freedom and bared its teeth angrily as it slowly approached her. She backed up and backed up until she felt the ground give way behind her. A quick over-the-shoulder glance revealed a steep cliff and she stared up at the Hydra with terrified eyes. “Twilight! Look!” Spike exclaimed, pointing up to their right. She looked up in amazement as the crashed ship, having recently un-crashed, hovered beside them. She looked up at the translucent green canopy just in time for Zhane to give her a thumbs-up. With that, the ship began to change. In a rapid series of transformations during which pieces of metal moved and folded, the ship suddenly stood on two legs like its pilot as if covered in a bulky, edgy suit of armor. It took a fighting stance in between Twilight, Spike, and the Hydra. Although smaller than the Hydra, it did not stop the ship from crushing the monster with a bone-crunching tackle. Twilight watched with a paralyzing combination of fascination and terror as they rolled and fought fang to armored limb. At first, it looked like the hydra had the upper hoof until the ship grabbed the monster by two of its long necks and threw it off. Without giving it the chance to recover, the ship stood up and grasped the creature between two large metal arms and flung it off the cliff. It sailed, roaring and flying over Twilight’s head as the ship rubbed its hands together as if to say “all done” before giving her another thumbs-up. “Meh, he wasn’t so tough,” Zhane said nonchalantly over the ship’s intercom as the machine knelt in front of Twilight. “May I offer you a lift?” He asked, lowering one of the Halcyon’s open palms to the ground in front of the shocked pony. Twilight nodded and gingerly stepped aboard. As gently as he could, Zhane closed the hand partially around them and rose up into a low hover. “Alright, just tell me where to go.”
Chapter 3 - The Guinea Pig from Outer SpaceChapter 3 Needless to say, Zhane’s arrival and subsequent parking job beside the library caused quite a commotion and within mere moments, a sizeable crowd of curious bystanders had gathered. All at once, Twilight was bombarded by inquiries regarding the circumstances of her arrival. Thinking quickly, she realized that it was a perfect opportunity to introduce the traveler to practically everyone and get it out of the way so they could both go about their business. “Ahem,” she cleared her throat whilst perched on the Halcyon’s wing. She frowned and her horn lit up. She directed a small spark towards her neck, upon reaching which it disappeared. “AHEM!” The crowd of ponies stopped their chatter and looked up at the purple pony. “As you all can see, we have a visitor. Zhane, would you like to introduce yourself?” She asked as the starship’s canopy opened. “Um...hello there,” he said, gazing over the crowd. The reaction was mixed; some looked up in fear, others with curious expressions, and even a few with fascinated look son their faces. However, those were few and far between and Zhane knew it wasn’t gonna be easy for either party to acclimatize to the new situation, temporary as it may be. He cleared his throat, remembering proper protocol. “My name is Zhane Martin. I am a freelance pilot with the Cosmic-Earth Alliance. I...come in peace?” He wasn’t sure what else to say. Most pilots simply drew what they’d heard from related forms of media and ran with it and it usually worked. Well, except the Shivans but when it came to them, they were the exception to most if not all of the rules. “What are you?” A small, girlish voice with a Western accent reached his ears from somewhere in the crowd. He looked about and then down to find a small yellow filly with a large red bow standing in the front of the crowd. Hers was one of the rare expressions of fascination, matching her compatriots, a white filly with a light purple and pink-streaked mane, and an orange one with a deep purple mane. They looked up at him in awe as he stepped out of the cockpit and stood on the wing opposite of Twilight. “That is an excellent question. I’m what is referred to as a ‘human’. I come from a faraway planet called ‘Earth’.” “So you’re...an alien?” The yellow one asked eagerly. “Yep, sure am.” He was surprised when their grins suddenly grew into full-on smiles of excitement as they high-fived each other. “Cutie Mark Crusaders First Contact Squad YAY!” Zhane couldn’t help but smile at their antics and silently thanked his lucky stars that at least someone wasn’t calling for a witch hunt. He jumped down from the ship, startling the ponies near the front of the crowd, causing them to take a cautionary step back. “That’s weird, usually Pinkie Pie's the first one to...” Before Twilight could finish, a bright pink blue suddenly blasted out from with a nearby shrubbery and tackled the unsuspecting pilot. “Ooh, my achin’ head...” Zhane muttered as he slowly sat up. He looked up right into the huge eyes of a bright pink pony whose mane reminded him of cotton candy. “What’s up?” “GAAAAAASSSPPPPPP....” The pony gasped as her eyes grew even wider. “This....is...AWESOME!” She exclaimed, bouncing all over the place. “I didn’t think...nopony said...I don’t even....this is so cool! Of course, if you were a pony it’d be cool too but you’re totally different and come to think of it I’ve never seen anything like you before and oh my gosh, you’re so different but I like you anyway friends?” Zhane just stared back at her as she held out a hoof. He carefully shook it and was surprised by an instant hug. “Yay! New friends! My name’s Pinkie Pie and I’m gonna throw a party just for you!” “I...I...um...” Zhane stuttered. While gunshots and angry soldiers were no surprise during some of his less-than-stellar first encounters, a party certainly was and Zhane wasn’t sure which he should be more worried about. However, the apparent lack of killing machines comforted him and he felt less nervous by the minute. “Don’t worry, she’s just being Pinkie Pie,” Twilight assured him. “In that case sure, if it’s not too much trouble...” “Trouble? It’ll be fun! I’ve never thrown a party for an alien before!” With that, she bounced happily away, going over numerous food and activities to nopony in particular in a cheerful singsong voice. “Well, that was interesting alright,” Zhane commented as the crowd dissipated. “You sure I’m not gonna get lynched or something?” “No, you’ll be fine. How bad is the damage?” Twilight asked as Zhane looked the ship over and consulted the device clasped to his wrist. “It’s not good. I can manage but I would need at least a week to get basic systems up and running and another week to get everything back to perfect shape. That last transformation drained most of the remaining power. It’s a miracle that we made it all the way here.” Zhane sighed and turned the holoscreen off. “I hate to ask this of you but do you have a place I could do some repairs like...a garage or something? I have all the tools I need but I need some space to work. Not a lot; just enough for me, my equipment, and my ship.” Twilight thought about it. “Well, Applejack might have some spare room in her barn but that’s pretty far out of Ponyville and I’m pretty sure that they need the space for the harvest right now. Besides, it’s pretty far from Ponyville, which doesn’t suit you if you ever need something.” Zhane nodded. “Well then...we could always build something that would suit your requirements.” “That’s really nice of you to offer but I can’t ask you to do that,” Zhane replied with a smile. “I’ll make do with a barn even if it isn’t the most convenient location.” It was too late; Twilight was already jotting down notes on a piece of parchment. “I’m not much of an architect,” Twilight said as she crossed something out. “We need an expert if we’re going to do this right, someone who knows everything there is to know about things with wings...” The lavender unicorn mused with a hoof to her mouth. “Seriously, I can just work on it out...” There was a sudden clap of thunder as rain began to pelt Ponyville. “...side.” Zhane finished. “Come to think of it, a roof over my head would be nice.” “That’s just what I was thinking,” Twilight replied, motioning for him to follow her into the huge tree. “You’ll need somewhere to stay for the time being...wait, that’s it! Why don’t you stay here?” She asked excitedly. “You mean...in a library?” The rows of books made it pretty clear where they were and answered some of Zhane’s questions about this ‘Twilight Sparkle’. What a student she must be to be in charge of such a wealth of knowledge at such a young age! Mad respect, Zhane thought as he wandered about whilst examining some of the titles. “I mean, if you have room for me...then sure, why not?” “Great!” Twilight tried not to sound too excited but simply could not contain herself. Sacrificing some living space for the chance to study such an exotic creature up close for close to a month was an easy trade-off. Of course, ensuring that their new guest was comfortable and had everything he needed was paramount and even though Twilight was well-aware of that fact, it didn’t help her curiosity. Zhane seemed to sense it. “Y’know, it’s not fair to you if I stay here taking up your space and eating your food and whatnot so how about this? You put me up until my repairs are done and in return, I share everything I can about Earth and space and stuff? I can’t share anything military-related but I’ll tell you anything else you wanna know. Deal?” Zhane was pretty sure that such terms were already implied but he wanted to make it sound more like he was putting in a conscious effort to earn his keep. He breathed a sigh of relief as the purple pony smiled widely and shook his hand. “It’s a deal! And don’t worry; you’ll have all the time you need to work on your ship.” “No problem, I can only do about three or four hours a day anyway. Most of the repairs are automatic; they just need some ‘help’ to get started.” Zhane assured her. Twilight was ecstatic; seldom was a scientific ‘specimen’ destined for intensive study also a willing house guest. As Zhane slept soundly on three unfolded sleeping bags on the floor beside Twilight’s bed that night, she looked up at Luna’s beautiful starscape and silently thanked her lucky stars. The chance to help another while also receiving valuable information was a rare thing indeed and as Twilight slowly succumbed to sleep, her mind began a letter to Princess Celestia. Dear Princess Celestia, Today I discovered a new...zzzzzzzzzz...zzzzzzzzzz... And that was as far as she got before falling asleep with a snore.
