Past to Present

Chapter 4: Overloading the Plot

"So you have hands." Twilight asked/stated towards James. Lyra stood behind her, smug.

"Yah. So... Are we just going to wait for an answer? I mean, you burnt that letter. Don't expect anything back... And what is that thing anyway? The... Purple thing. That's not an NTech product, is it? Honestly, I wouldn't know, since it's been a few years since I've worked there. Where'd you get it?" James asked.

"It's a dragon, I hatched it. HE. He's a dragon, and I hatched HIM. And yes, the letter will reach the Princess. She may take a while to respond, so I figured I'd just ask a few questions. First, what sort of an army are you in? How many are in it? What tools do you use? Lyra said you were on a meteoroid, are you from space?"

"That's a lot of questions... Okay, I'm in the marines, that's classified, that's classified, and technically, yes, if that answers your question."

"It really doesn't."

"Can't help you there. I'm not to divulge any potentially harming information to anyo--" His speech was interrupted by a large belch. Spike had inexplicably erupted a letter from his bowels.

"Here, Twilight!" He said happily as he handed the letter to his master.

My Faithful Student, Twilight,

I am intrigued. I have heard of "Humans" before, but only in myths and legends. If such a specimen does exist, I would enjoy seeing it. Unfortunately, transporting it to Canterlot is out of the question. Preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration cannot be interrupted by aliens, no matter how groundbreaking a discovery they are. Thus, I shall visit YOU for a change.

-Sincerely, Princess Trollestia Molestia Celestia

"So I take it that your leader's coming here then? Rather punctuated letter. Not much for small talk, is she?" He asked.

"That's offensive."

"Sorry. Let me get this clear though. Is your leader a king, a president, a dictator or an 'honorable chairman?'"

"What are those? We have a princess!" She stated.

James stared at her like she had just said that they castrate chickens for entertainment every Saturday. A princess? A princess. Really. I'm already tossed into some equine society and now I learn that their government has no king, no queen, but a princess. Reviewing, this place has equines which call themselves 'ponies' who live equally and serve under a princess, using 'magic' to solve their problems. WHY DOES THIS SEEM SO CHILDISH?

"So you're in a monarchy."

"Eeyup."

James continued to stare at the mare as if expecting more.

"Basically, she controls the sun and her sister controls the moon. They work in tandem and operate the government as higher rulers, although we do have a Parliame--" Twilight started, but was interrupted.

"Controls the sun? Controls the moon?" James was snickering at this point. "You think that the sun and moon are operated by your leaders?"

"Well, yeah... Why wouldn't we?"

"Yeah. Well I think that's the first time I've had a good laugh in a while! Listen here, I used to be a scientist, and I can tell you that... Well, the earth goes around the sun."

"What a silly idea! And what is this... 'earth,' anyway? How could a planet go around a sun?"

"You clearly haven't studied astronomy. This culture must be some failure. I'd hate to still be with NTech at this point, after all, you don't even know what PLANET you're on!" James mocked her mercilessly.

"This is the planet Equus! Of COURSE I know what planet I'm on!" Twilight retorted, shouting at this point.

"This is EARTH! And it has been called Earth for countless millenia!"

"Earth? What a stupid name! You named your planet 'dirt?'"

"You named yours 'horse.'" James stated.

"Well, that's because... You're not on this 'Earth' anymore, you know. I don't know what you were doing, but you're not on any planet called Earth, because THIS, this is Equus, in the land of Equestria."

"Ok. You know what, fine. It's Equus. Whatever you say. But you guys are obsessed with horses for some reason. I mean, you don't see any HUMAN nations naming themselves 'humanitaria' or anything like that! Okay, maybe with the GAPHE, but they're not that smart. And as for not being on Earth anymore, of course I'm on Earth! Where else would I be? I may have entered the Alc portal, but I still recognized the continents as I fell! It is clear that I am on Earth, and you are obviously delusional to believe that no, I am not on Earth, because I am!" James huffed. Twilight was clearly not amused.

"Where were you before you met Lyra?" She asked calmly.

"Well, I'm glad you asked. I'm in the NUSA marines, you know that, and I can't tell you much more of that, but since the immediate results of this battle are clearly going to raze this city to the ground, accident or not. First off, Zimbabw--"

James was quickly interrupted by a knocking on the door.

"That should be them... Now Mr. Lieutenant, please don't anger Princess Celestia! She's probably cranky at this time, and I'm pretty sure that Princess Luna's not exactly in a wonderful mood either. I would advi--"

The door rapidly opened with two rather large equines with wings and horns as the perpetrators of the act.

James's eyes widened ridiculously far. He'd never seen this type of equine! Wings AND horns? Curse NTech for not allowing him these glorious secrets! The equines were both female, that much he recognized, but their flank marks did not represent any military significance at all! What then, could... Wait... These flank marks were those of the sun and the moon! Perhaps then, these were the princesses! Then these were the great con artistes?

"Twilight Sparkle! What is this... Thing which you wanted me to see?" Asked the white one.

"I have noticed the presence of a strange rock with fell from the sky in yonder gorge, wouldst thine beast be, then, responsible for this crash?" The black one asked in a powerful voice. It was a wonder that every... Pony was still asleep.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Twilight exclaimed, as if she hadn't known it was them, and bowed reverently. James stood there staring at the large horses, self conscious of the MPD rifle strapped to his back. "This is the human I wanted to show you! Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to like to talk much..."

"Hello." The scientist said flatly.

"Greetings, newcomer! I am the Princess, Celestia! This is my sister, Luna! We would both like to welcome you to the wondrous land of Equestria! I am sure you are curious about us as much as we are about you!"

"Not really." He said.

"What? You aren't curious about the physiology of the aliens around you?" Celestia asked. Luna remained stoic.

"I am rather familiar in equine anatomy. What interests me is your culture." He continued rather flatly. "I am curious at what your flank-markings represent and how they appear differently than... Planned. I am aware you form a parliamentary monarchy with two rulers in conjunction, but it appears you have no guard. I take it that the crime in these cities is very low, correct?"

"Er... Yes. How exactly have you come into familiarity with the pony body?"

"You don't want to know. It's not classified, and I'm not stopping you from delving into it, but let me make this clear: You don't want to know."

"We do." Luna retorted.

"You're sure?"

"Rather." Celestia said.

"Then sit down, this may take a while."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-So Much Space... Gotta See it All-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The planet Earth was a beautiful sight. Each continent easily distinguishable from the bird's eye view outer space had to offer. Vice Admiral Huggbees stood on the bridge of his wondrous battlecruiser, the NUSS Harbinger. Silently, he gazed at the awe-inspiring ball in front of him. Planet Earth... The cradle of humanity, the birthplace of the greatness which drove not only the Slithurians away, but the Yonkos and the Houyhnhnms too! Here I stand as a member of the great race which defeated the odds to make their dreams come true. But why is it so... Tranquil? We had been fighting for our lives and freedom as our ancestors did before us, but now... Not a single UAV or equine in the sky! Why? Is this, then, NOT Earth? No. It must be Earth. No amount of coincidence would toss us to an identical planet, in an identical solar system! Then where are we?

"Sir!" A red shirt yelled. "Extensive damage has been observed on the starboard engines, and casualties have been reported to be exactly seventy-nine crew members! Spectroscopes have determined the planet below shares a breathable atmo. In fact, there's no reason to believe that that planet isn't actually Earth itself, sir!"

Interrupted from his internal soliloquy, the officer turned to the Ensign.

"Do we still have our landing craft?" He asked.

"The craft, as well as the frigates are intact, sir!"

"Let's park the car, then!" The Admiral exclaimed.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-Twilight's Library-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The spaceman gazed at the eager princesses and their student. They had seated themselves on the floor in front of where he stood, awaiting his supposedly glorious tale of honor and friendship. Instead, they got this:

"So about a hundred years ago, a little nation called Zimbabwe collapsed. Humans had just learned how to fly at speeds faster than light by warping spacetime. Unfortunately, it required an energy release which was massive. So massive, that in order to make just ONE trip, you'd need to release the entire energy content of a house! This wouldn't do, so we found an element which worked wonders. It held a lot of energy and we were able to transport it easily. Element 95, Americium. And despite its name, it wasn't really that common in America. People needed it, and when Zimbabwe collapsed, we found that there was a LOT of this stuff underneath."

James stood there, pausing for effect. The ponies didn't seem to grasp what he was saying.

"After the discovery of the mass deposit of Americium, nations started arguing over who would have rights to mine there. The money available for gain would be massive if it was owned, so all nations stopped arguing and began FIGHTING. Armies were sent off to get this "wonder element" and all that. So long story short, interplanetary war ended breaking out. This relates to you, because at the heart of this conflict rested the corporation which invented the Alcubierre drive, the FTL engine, mind you, they gained dollar after dollar off of this conflict. So once they got enough dough, they started the GEPFTBOHAIIAANITU project, or the Genetic Engineering Project for the Benefit of Humanity and its Interstellar Allies and Neighbors in the Universe. Not a good acronym, but still. I was one of the top members of this project. Twenty years ago, we started the GSAC project: The Genetic Servant and Companion project, to be precise. It detailed utilizing a dying species for the purpose of creating a new creature which could help out in the home and all that happy stuff. I took the project because I'd get paid. We started with re-engineering monkeys, but the public was disturbed at how uncanny that would be, so we decided to change it a bit. We took one of the most valuable animals in Earth's history and gave it a second chance. We took the horse, which was dying out because of how impractical of an animal it was to keep, and made it feasible and manageable. It was a brilliant project, the one which earned me a high rank, but more into IT. We did a few changes to the horses," He continued, noticing that the ponies seemed to not recognize the term 'horse.' This struck him as odd, seeing as they were... Well, horses. "We took these creatures and gave them human brains, or at least, near-human brains, decreased their massive size to that of their young, gave them special hooves with miniature hairs for grip, and finally, marks on their flanks to determine things such as which family they belonged to and stuff like that."

The ponies sat silent. The white princess cocked her head in confusion.

"These mini horses had no real name, so we called them 'equines.' Men and women flocked to purchase these creatures, even though they clearly had high intellects and were self-aware... I mean seriously! They are REAL, living creatures which can process almost as much as a human can, and in certain cases more, and people just buy them like they're dogs! Still, I suppose the servitude aspect of the deal was alluring enough..."

"So wait... Are you referring to... Us?" Asked the purple unicorn. (That is an interesting sentence to type...)

"You're pretty slow, aren't you? Of course! We developed the non-horned or winged equines first as servants or sentient pets, and the other two for military purposes! And THAT, teal-horse-thing, is why I asked you for you serial number." He said sharply to Lyra. "Because I am your creator! WHY, then, do THOSE two exist," He pointed to the princesses, "and why do you not have serial numbers? I'll tell you! I've been thinking about this for a while, and I think that this is some sort of genetic experiment on intellect!" He heaved.

"I remember millennia of service to this proud nation and planet. Clearly you are delusional." The princess said flatly. "Plus, there is no explanation for magic which is scientifically possible. You could not have manufactured the ponies to your specifications thus."

"Au contraire, mademoiselle, there IS a scientific explanation. For your memories AND magic. I think I'll start with the latter. It's hard to find these, I'll admit, but "magic," is simply composed of little skin cells which fall off occasionally, which undergo a transformation to become dependent on the sun, grow a propeller-like flagellum and several other appendages. It's not actually that unbelievable, but they end up looking like a weird bacteria when separated. Memories, well, I'm about to prove you wrong with THOSE." He put his helmet back on as he said this, pressing several buttons on his arm.

I feel bad for doing this. He thought, feeling bad for doing whatever he was doing.

"Wait... Wait what? WHAT?" He screamed. N-natural memory? NO WAY. No. No. Nope. Nope. No chance in hell! How is that not implanted? HOW? Wait... Oh God... I'm on another planet. These must be a separate species identical to my equines! NO! That is a HUGE coincidence! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? The nanites which flew from his suit had not found any radiation from any memory-implanting process. These memories the princess held were, in fact, legitimate memories, and that baffled the scientist.

"I... I-I'm sorry... I'm mistaken... I am so sorry. Forgive me your majesties... How... How?" He stammered in fright.

"I told you that I clearly remembered these things! Although, your magical explanation was rather interesting. Would you have any means of proving that?" Asked the white princess. (WHY DOES THAT SOUND RACIST?)

"Yes... If you have microscopes, that is... Honestly, I don't know... I don't... I don't even... Where am I?"

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-Orbit. Space orbit. In my spacesuit. Go to space...-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The Henkins was a good ship. Easily dwarfing most other cruisers, it shone in the sunlight. Well, it would have, if the whole back half hadn't been cleaved off unceremoniously, resulting in the deaths of several thousand men and women... Still, it was a pretty big ship, that's what I'm getting at.

"The side accelerators are operational, sir, but we've lost our Alc drive. We're basically grounded here, sir." An ensign said to the extremely manly Vice Admiral in front of him.

"Ah reckon we're gonna have ta take the hill." He said, resonating his pure male dominance over the inferior crew.

And so, the previously large-but-not-so-large-anymore-seeing-as-it-was-just-bisected-in-the-last-chapter ship set forth to the planet below.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-Twilight's Library-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Lyra was upset. First this human was saying that he could explain magic, then that he had made them all, then he puts his helmet on and apologizes! What's up with that?

"So... If this planet is truly NOT earth, but instead a planet which coincidentally has the same form and some of the same life and fauna, do you truly rotate the sun? No. Wait, no. If my hypothesis is correct, you'd only be able to rotate the planet itself, correct?" The human asked.

The purple equine sighed in frustration. while the white one's mouth assumed a strange position, scrunched up close to her cheekbones. She glanced to both sides and sighed.

"I concede." She said, hanging her head. The purple one stared at her in shock.

"Oh... Well... Why doesn't your planet... Turn?" He asked.

"That would be Discord."

"And that is?"

"He's the god of chaos." She answered, as if that explained everything. She didn't seem to want to go into it more, so James abandoned it.

Something tells me that I'm not going to be having a very good time here. The soldier-turned scientist thought to himself.

And as it turns out, he was right.