Space Case

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Prologue

Space Case Prologue

Brilliant. The Dark Matter Reactor was on the blink, again! This was the third time this week. Now you couldn't warp until you could get a technician out to your ship. So you were stuck idling at a way-point between two warpgates somewhere between Alpha Centauri and the Terran Solar System. Well, at least the ship broke down outside a warp tunnel. This time. You make your way from the reactor room back to the cockpit of your small cargo frigate, hitting your head on the too low entrance of the cockpit.

“God damn! Every time!”

You were still getting used to this new ship. Nursing the bruise on your head, you sit down in the pilot seat. The displays flare to life as an androgynous face appears on the main screen.

“Welcome back Lieutenant Commander Anonymous. Have you determined what is wrong with the spacecraft?”

“What isn’t wrong with this thing? The reactor's acting up again. I think it's the Magnetron shorting out. Not quite sure. There's also a load of sensor arrays that are faulty. Send out a sub-space message to Maintenance. They'll know how to fix this rust bucket. Also, let the Heavy Dreadnaught class flagship Stalwart know that their shipment of supplies will be delayed.”

The A.I. pauses for a moment before speaking again.

“Maintenance has been alerted. They will be here within two Terran standard hours. Heavy Dreadnaught Stalwart has also received the message and has extended the delivery window out two standard Terran cycles.”

“Good. Now let's get this junker off the main shipping lanes. Bring the auxiliary reactors online.”

As the A.I. starts up the reactors, you can hear the whine of the ship coming to life around you. God, you love that sound. After a few moments, your displays read all green for thruster systems. You ease forwards on the thrusters and... nothing.

“Seriously? How the hell was this junker cleared to launch?”

The A.I. appears on your main display.

“External sensors are reading that the auxiliary thrusters are not receiving power. Sensors cannot determine what the cause of the malfunction is.”

Your day just got infinitely better. Not really. Because the only way to fix anything wrong with the auxiliary thrusters is to go outside the ship. And you hated spacewalks because of the spacesuits that were issued to non-combat pilots. The spacesuits are old second generation relics of the Terran Navy and relied on constrictive pressure to counteract the void of space.

Basically, it was like wearing a giant rubber band that constantly squeezed you. The only good thing about these suits is that they somehow have more ablative plating than the suits issued to combat pilots. The only downside is those plates weighed a good hundred and fifty pounds. Add in all the other things these suits came with, such as the reactor, thrusters, and the onboard computer suite, the suit got to be pretty damn heavy. It didn't mean much in zero gravity, but on the ship, gravity was set to Terran standard and would not turn off unless the airlock already vented. And to top it all off, the entire suit is colored a garish hazard orange.

So with a sigh of resignation, you make your way to the airlock. You have to get this ship out of the shipping lane one way or another. You didn’t want to be hit by another ship. It took you some time, but you eventually get into the suit, put on all the ablative plates, and make sure all the seals were good. Pushing a button near the neck joint on your suit, you feel it constrict around your body, forming skin-tight contact and becoming form fitting. You also strap a tool belt onto the suit in case you can fix the thrusters.

Hitting a button on the wall of the airlock, you start the decompression sequence. You feel yourself lighten as the artificial gravity turns off. The air siphons out of the airlock and you hear the ventilation ports seal up in your helmet. With a slight hiss, you feel the rebreather unit on your back engage as air moves across your face inside the helmet.

The display on your helmet's visor lights up, showing you several different readouts, such as interior air quality, exterior pressure, exterior air content, gravity, approximate operating time for the rebreather, and vitals. You step off into space and fire up the small thrusters located across the suit. A small 3D rendering of the ship appears in a corner of the visor with the thrusters highlighted in red and your position highlighted in green. You maneuver along the length of the ship until the auxiliary thrusters are visible. Nothing obvious seems wrong with them, so you move over to an access panel. As you reach out to grab the latch, electricity arcs out and shocks you.

“Aah! Shit!”

As you back away from the craft and curse like a madman, a warning message fills your visor with big red letters.

[DARK MATTER REACTOR CRITICAL]

[ABANDON SHIP IMMEDIATELY]

“Aww, hell...”

You look at the gravity readout on your visor and see it slowly rising. You are so fucked. The reactor is starting to collapse into a black hole and there is nothing you can do to stop it. And you can't possibly outrun a black hole in a space suit.

“Fuck it, I'm getting the best seats in the house to watch oblivion.”

You fire up the thrusters and move backwards from the ship so you could get a better view. After a few moments, you get a few hundred meters away from the ship so you can get a better view. You can feel yourself drifting closer to the craft as the gravity starts to increase in intensity. Suddenly, the gravity starts skyrocketing on your display. The ship begins to collapse in on itself and you are pulled towards where the reactor should be. Soon enough, the ship completely vanishes and the light distorts into streaks centered on the tiny hole in reality when it becomes visible. With the ship gone, you start racing towards your oblivion with an ever increasing sense of falling. You stare at the black hole and await for your inevitable ionization.

And wait.

...And wait...

The black hole isn't getting any closer, but you still feel like you are falling. You look around and see streaks of light in every color imaginable. And then it hits you.

You’ve gone plaid!

But seriously, you are in a wormhole. You remember that wormholes are basically shortcuts between two places in the universe or something like that. They are very similar to the warp gates that were used to go into subspace. Supposedly, wormholes were proven to be false by scientists ages ago. If only those bean counters could see you now.

As you are pondering this, a brilliant flash of light blinds you. After your eyes adjust from the sudden increase in light, you find yourself in a vast expanse of... static? It looks like static from those ancient Terran cathode ray tubes. Except, it is everywhere. Your visor display catches your attention. It's fluctuating wildly on all of its readouts. Wherever you are, your suit's computer is getting scrambled something fierce.

“What is that thing?”

‘The hell is that?’

It sounded like a woman's voice, but slightly muffled. You look around, but see nothing except more static.

“I don't know, but it looks funny.”

‘There it is again! Another muffled female voice!’

You look around frantically, but still see nothing but static.

“Hey Leo, did you bring this thing here?”

“Nuh-uh! I bet it was Cancer that did it.”

As another muffled female voice joins them, something clicks in your mind. You finally figure out where the voices are coming from. They’re coming from inside your head.

“Wasn't me.”

“Then how did that thing get here?”

A fourth muffled female voice now. Are you actually dead right now? Is your afterlife to be spent listening to voices argue in your head?

“Hey Taurus. Do you know how this thing got here?”

“How would I know? Go ask Virgo. She's the smart one.”

A muffled male voice now.

‘Wait a second. Virgo? Taurus? Cancer? Leo? Those were the names of the Zodiac.’

“You figured that out rather quickly. Good job. Don't worry everyone, I'll handle this.”

You hear other voices mutter some things you don't quite catch. This voice was much clearer than the previous five. Perfectly clear, in fact. It sounds like a deep female voice.

‘What the fuck is going on here?’

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

‘The fuck? Can these things hear my thoughts?’

“I can. The others cannot though.”

‘What others?’

“The other Zodiac. We are not things by the way. We are more akin to spirits.”

‘What? That's impossible. Spirits don't exist.’

“Well, you are here. And we are talking. So I would say it is pretty possible.”

‘Here? Where's here? And who are you?’

“Oh my, where are my manners? I am Virgo. You are currently in the Astral plane where the Zodiac reside. And you are?”

‘My name is Anonymous.’

“Charmed to meet you.”

‘Is this where people go when they die?’

“Die? Why would you think you are dead?”

‘I fell through a black hole and into a wormhole. That's how I ended up here.’

“Oh my, how unfortunate. But I can assure you that you are not dead.”

‘Okay then, if I'm not dead, then what do I do? I can't live in this Astral Plane forever.’

“The answer I have for you is one you may not like. Would you like to hear it?”

‘Might as well. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.’

“I'm afraid that we Zodiac are incapable of sending you back to where you came.”

‘Okay....’

“However, our Mistress may know of a way to help.”

‘Your what now?’

“Mistress, dear. Who we as Zodiac answer to. Our Mistress' name is Princess Luna and Mistress is the Ruler of the Night.”

‘Wait, what? Ruler of the Night? As in, she only rules when it's night out?’

“No dear, but you are close. Our Mistress holds power over everything associated with the night.”

‘Uhh... hold on a second. This is taking a moment to parse...’

“I believe that reality may operate much more differently here than where you came from, Mister Anonymous.”

‘I think you might be correct.’

“Moving along then. Our Mistress has ruled over the night since the beginning of time itself along with her sister Princess Celestia, who is the Ruler of the Day. However, our Mistress had a little...mental breakdown a thousand years ago. Princess Celestia banished our Mistress to the moon. Our Mistress is still there currently.”

‘....’

“Anonymous?”

‘My mind is full of so many fucks right now.’

“As I had stated previously, reality may operate differently. This seems to be the case.”

‘I'm just going to stop trying to comprehend things now...’

“That may be for the best. Understanding will come with time. Now, would you like to speak with our Mistress? As a Zodiac, I am able to send you to her.”

‘...Sure.’

“Very well then. Goodbye Anonymous, and good luck.”

‘Why would I need lu-’

Your vision flickers and you find yourself standing on an off-white expanse of powdery ground with a star filled sky. Judging by what you retained from your conversation with the voices in your head, you are on the moon where this Princess Luna is supposed to be. As you take in the beauty and tranquility of the terrain before you, a message pops up in green on your visor.

[EXTERIOR AIR QUALITY AND PRESSURE WITHIN ACCEPTABLE PARAMETERS]

[OPENING VENTILATION PORTS AND PURGING REBREATHER SYSTEM]

With a loud hiss, the ventilation ports in your helmet open as the rebreather forcibly cycles clean air through it to purge itself of any bad air.

“Okay, so apparently I can breathe in space. This is apparently perfectly normal. No need to freak out. I am perfectly fine.”

You say this as you scream internally. Well, since you can apparently breathe in space, there's no need to wear the visor. The skyrocketing vitals would just distract you from staying sane. Unsealing your helmet, you take it off and cradle the helmet under one arm. Now that you had your helmet off, you can hear how truly silent the moon is. You listen to the oddly soothing sound of the void of space as someone cries in the distance.

It really does wonders for your frazzled nerves- wait, what? Someone is crying? Concentrating a bit more, you can hear that someone is indeed crying. The sound is echoing, so it's possible that it's a fair ways off. And this suit is heavy as hell. Then again, moons tend to have pretty weak gravity as a rule of thumb. Tentatively, you take a few steps forward. To your great pleasure, the gravity of this moon is very weak. The suit weighs practically nothing here. It's just extra bulk.

Continuing forward, you listen again to the sound of the crying to try and determine where it is coming from. As best as you can tell, it is coming from directly in front of you. As you trudge onwards, the soft lunar powder hindering your progress slightly as your suit's boots sink in. You eventually hear the sound of the crying grow louder. You were definitely getting near. Trudging further along, you notice that the ground turns into a small crater not too far away. By this time, the crying has turned into soft sobbing. The sobbing sounds like it is coming from the crater. Once you reach the rim of the crater, you look down into the crater and see- what the hell is that?

On the bottom of the crater’s surface is some form of four legged creature on a stone dais with a stylized golden sun emblem emblazoned on it. The creature had a golden chain attached to a similar collar around its neck. The creature itself was vaguely horse shaped and looked to be somewhat small. It was black all over, except for a whispy blue mane and tail that blew softly in a breeze that you couldn't feel. On closer inspection of the creature, you notice four interesting things. The creature is wearing jewelry, has wings has a horn, and the creature's hair and tail is full of stars. What the hell is that thing?

As you observed the creature, it seemed to sense your presence and lift its head to lock eyes with you. As you stare into the creature's silvery blue eyes, you find that you are incapable of looking away. Something about its eyes are just...captivating.

“A-are you... real?”

It spoke. And it sounds female. And it sounds really scared. It is probably best not to startle it.

“I think I am. Are you real?”

The creature just stares at you with a look of curiosity, confusion, and fright.

“I'll take that as a yes.”

You slowly raise your free hand and point at the creature. It, or she rather, recoils slightly and backs away from you. The look of fear in her eyes increases.

“You wouldn't happen to be Princess Luna by any chance, would you?”

Your words seem to calm the creature down as the tension in her body visibly diminishes.

“H-how do you know my name? And w-what are you?”

“I am a human. My name is Anonymous. I was sent by Virgo.”

Princess Luna perks up at the mention of Virgo.

“Virgo sent you? How did you meet Virgo?”

“Well, the short version of my story is that I got sucked into a wormhole and ended up in the astral Planes where Virgo and myself had a nice little chat. She then sent me here because she believed that you could help me.”

As you finished, Luna had a look of deep sadness on her face.

“I am afraid I cannot help you. My powers are sealed by this chain.”

Well, that's just great. Your only chance to end this nightmare is a bust. With a sigh of frustration, you set your free hand to rest across your tool belt. Looks like you hit a dead end already.

....Wait a second.

Tool belt! You look through the contents of the tool belt and find a handheld plasma cutter/welder. It's about time your luck took a turn for the better.

“I think I have something to cut that chain. I'm coming down.”

Hopping just a tiny bit, you launch yourself a good three feet into the air and propel yourself forward. You end up overshooting the stone dais and land on the opposite side of the crater floor. As you step up the side of the dias, Luna scrambles away from you again until the chain snaps taught. The look of fear has returned to her eyes greater than before. You see that she is smaller than you by a wide margin. Perhaps that is why she is scared of you? Or, it could be the fact that, you know, you're an alien. Focusing on the task at hand, you speak to Luna in what you can only hope is a soothing voice.

“Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to try and cut the chain. Now, close your eyes and turn your head away. This is going to get very bright”

Luna grudgingly follows your advice. You put your helmet on again and line up the plasma cutter with the chain before you pull down the welding visor on the helmet. You turn on the plasma cutter and see the still-brilliant light through the now dark visor of your helmet. It is slow goings, but you manage to cut through a single link of the chain. Pulling the helmet off your head, you wipe the sweat off your brow from the heat of the plasma.

“All right, that's one link down. Are you okay Luna?”

Luna keeps her eyes clamped shut and is shaking slightly.

“Luna? Are you alright?”

Her eyes shoot open and shine with a brilliant white light.

“Oh yes, I'm feeling wonderful! I haven't felt this good in a thousand years!”

Wait, that's not Luna's voice. The collar around her neck disintegrates into dust as Luna begins to grow bigger. She is nearly looking you in the eyes after she's done growing. Oh shit, this is not looking good!

“You have my thanks, Anonymous. You have aided me in attaining what is rightfully mine. As a reward, I will spare you from what is to come! For all shall remember the name of Nightmare Moon, and my eternal night!”

Laughing madly, Luna's mane and tail wrap around her to form a blue blur. The blur flies off into space, leaving you alone with the echoes of mad laughter. At a loss for words, you just stand there for a moment, staring out at where Luna flew off into space. The helmet slips out of your grip and lands in the lunar powder with a muffled ‘whumph’.

At this point, the memories of recent events wash over you like a tidal wave. In the span of roughly an hour, you managed to get sucked into a black hole, successfully managed to traverse a wormhole, got thrown into the Astral Plane, had a conversation with a Zodiac, and jailbroke a mentally unstable immortal horse princess. You can think of only one thing to say.

“I must have really pissed something off in a past life.”

Chapter 1

Space Case Chapter 1

You grow tired of standing in the same place and staring off into space, so you pick up your helmet and go find a large rock to lean up against a short ways away. Setting your helmet down in the lunar powder at your feet sends up a small puff of dust into the air. You look down at your hands to find that you are still holding the plasma cutter. Its display read that it has about half of a charge left on its power supply. You place it back in your toolbelt. There’s no sense in just tossing it.

Looking around, you notice this moon was like a barren desert. There isn’t exactly any attractions to keep you preoccupied, so a nap would be best at this point. It's been a very stressful... however long it’s been. Soon enough, you slip into the comforting embrace of sleep.

An undetermined amount of time passes before you wake up to the same barren landscape you saw before.

Huh... apparently this isn't a crazy dream after all.

“Did you sleep well?”

You nearly jump out of your skin, but soon enough you realize that the voice is a familiar one. Looking around, you find another horse-like creature sitting on its haunches to your right. It has an off-white coat with a two-tone pink mane and tail and it is wearing something similar to an ancient Roman toga. The creature also has shockingly violet eyes. The robe has a symbol over what would be the creature's flank. You knew what the symbol is, which means this creature could only be...

“Give me a little warning next time, Virgo. And yes, I did sleep well.”

“Glad to hear that.”

You stand up and try to stretch as best you can in the bulky spacesuit.

“So, what brings you out my way?”

“How did your chat with our Mistress go?”

“Poorly. I think I set a lunatic free.”

You point at the stone dais which is still visible from where you were.

“Hmm... yes, about that. I am afraid I have not told you everything regarding our Mistress.”

You continue to stretch out as much as the suit will allow you to while your face adopts an annoyed look.

“Well, it's very nice of you to tell me this after I let Luna or Nightmare whoever loose.”

“But here is the thing, Anonymous. Our Mistress had to be freed bodily so that she may be freed mentally.”

You pause your stretching for a moment and turn to face Virgo.

“Come again?”

“Our Mistress never fully recovered from her mental breakdown a thousand years ago, despite Princess Celestia's best efforts to help. Every day for the past thousand years, Celestia has tried to free our Mistress from the influence of Nightmare Moon.”

“Okay, you are still not explaining how me freeing Luna equate to her being freed mentally.”

“Why you specifically were needed to free our Mistress is a story I shall tell in a moment. However, right now, Nightmare Moon is currently subjecting the planet to an endless night. Six brave mares are venturing forth to stop, and eventually defeat, Nightmare Moon and return our Mistress to her proper mindset.”

Mares? Like horses? No. Now is not the time for questions. There's time for that later.

“And how do you know all of this?”

“Their destinies, and the destinies of all living beings, are written in the stars. This includes your own.”

Okay, now this I have to hear.

“How is my destiny in your universe's stars if I'm not even from this universe?”

“Your destiny has always been in the stars since the beginning of time. Look.”

Virgo motions with a foreleg to a certain sector of the star filled sky. As you search the area of space for anything, you see that lines begin to form between stars, drawing a picture. Eventually, all the lines are drawn and form an image you immediately recognize.

“My God... that's a second generation spacesuit.”

“That is you, Anonymous. You are an Astral Being now, just like myself and the rest of the Zodiac.”

Your jaw falls open as you hear this news. It takes you a moment to regain your facilities, but you begin speaking again.

“Hold up! Wait a second! That can't be possible! I'm just a normal man! Plus, I just got here!”

“That constellation looks remarkably like you. You are also here. So, I would say that this is all very possible. As for being a 'normal man', you are automatically not normal as you are the only human here.”

If what Virgo is saying is true, you've gone down the rabbit hole way too far already. It's best to just roll with it. You let out a long sigh as you try to let go of your mind's last bit of sanity. You begin rubbing your temples with your fingertips.

“Okay, if I think about that anymore right now my brain might break. Let's change the subject. Why was I needed to break Luna free?”

”Because you were the only one that could.”

“Excuse me?”

”There is a legend stating that on the longest day of the thousandth year of our Mistress' imprisonment, the stars will aide in our Mistress' escape. The other Astral Beings couldn't help our Mistress because of Princess Celestia's banishment spell. You, however, could. You are not native to this plane, so many rules do not apply to you.”

“Okay...next question. Why is there a constellation of me?”

”No one knows. Not even our Mistress.”

“You said that everyone's destinies, including mine, were written in the stars. How do you, a Zodiac, and Luna, the Night Princess or whatever, not know?”

”Anonymous, just because a destiny is written in the stars does not mean that it can be read. The future is full of surprises. Speaking of surprises, here comes one now.”

Virgo points one of her forelegs out at space again. Several shooting stars streak across the sky and one lands on the the lunar surface a fair distance away from where you now stood. A few moments later, you feel the shockwave from the impact. The shockwave doesn’t do anything to you aside from cover you in moondust.

”I think you should go see what that is. It may be useful.”

As you attempt to dust yourself off, you look over at Virgo to see her clean as ever. How did she not get dust on her?

”Oh, by the by, your armor's color is... off-putting, to say the least. I can change it for you if you like. Consider it my apology for withholding information.”

You never did like the color these suits came in. They were always so garish. Plus, this was finally a subject that didn't involve making your brain hurt more.

“Sure, whatever. Just whatever you do, don't make it pink.”

Virgo grins slightly at your answer before waving a forelimb in your direction. The suit turns to a deep midnight blue with silvery star designs painted across the ablative plates. This actually looks pretty nice. You take a look at your helmet to find that the same thing happened to it as well. The visor's polarized coating changed from a highly reflective silver to a semi reflective silvery blue. The same color as Luna's eyes.

“Impressive. This actually turned out rather nice. I like i-”

You look up from the visor to find that Virgo is no longer there. A quick look around confirms that Virgo is no longer anywhere near you.

“...Could have said something.”

Well, at least Virgo was nice enough to make you look like something else besides a walking hazard sign before she left. You look over to where the shooting star fell to see a pillar of lunar dust rising out into space. Well, you have nothing else better to do, so you may as well go see what fell.

Since you didn't feel like walking all the way to the impact site, you decide to test out the suit's thrusters with the lunar gravity. You put your helmet back on and it reseals itself to the suit's neck joint. You use the vernier thrusters on the suit first. As expected, the vernier thrusters are enough to propel you into the air and get you moving somewhat quickly. This is definitely faster than walking. You could move much faster if you used the main thrusters, but those have a major drawback.

The main thrusters don't drain your suit's onboard micro reactor too badly, they just get scorching hot after an extended period of use. Your suit's thermal shielding can only do so much. There are upgrades for the suit’s thermal shielding. However, you weren't exactly high priority for receiving those when you had access to them. Such are the woes of being a cargo frigate pilot.

As you were thinking this, you had covered a good amount of distance towards your destination. A few more moments and you arrive at the impact site. You touch down on the rim of the fresh crater and feel the heat radiating off the still hot object situated in the center of the crater. You wait a few minutes for the smoke and dust to clear and see that the shooting star is actually an orbital drop pod. And a fairly large one, too. The pod is about fifteen feet in length and eight feet in diameter.

How in the hell did this get here?

As you wait for the drop pod to cool off, you speculate as to how the pod got here. You know from your cargo manifesto that your frigate was carrying some drop pods and various other munitions.

Maybe the ship got thrown into this dimension as well?

That’s the only reasonable explanation that you can think of. And you are using ‘reasonable’ very loosely in this case. If your suit had a better communications array, it might be able to pick up the frigate’s position from its emergency beacon. The beacon would have been automatically activated due to the reactor troubles. Even though the reactor turned into a black hole.

You wait roughly half an hour more for the drop pod to cool off enough to be safely handled. Sliding down the rim of the crater, you skip off halfway down and land next to the drop pod. Examining the exterior of the pod, you find a QR code. Pushing a button on the side of your helmet, you scan the QR code and a manifest of your ship’s cargo records pop up on your visor. Well now, this drop pod did come from your cargo frigate. This news gives you hope that you could find the frigate somehow and try to get out of this wacky place. You’re not sure how, but you’re damn sure going to try.

You read the manifest a bit more to find out that the drop pod before you is an orbitally deployable suit repair and upgrade station. You ignore the implications of an orbitally deployable drop pod being on your frigate for now. This is useful to you right now. After a fair bit of effort, you manage to manhandle the drop pod upright and get it open. You hop into the pod and activate it. A display lights up. The display greets you with your name and rank and shows you a list of upgrades available to your rank.

You read through the list and come to a realization very quickly. Almost all of the upgrades listed are for suits a generation or two ahead of yours. Curses!!! You select all of the ones that apply to your suit anyways since your suit is barebones. You select the Advanced Targeting Suite, a CPU and memory upgrade for the suit’s onboard computer, an improved thorium reactor, a Multi-Spectrum Sensors Suite, improved speech recognition software, and a firmware update for your suit’s onboard computer. The upgrades won’t do you any good, but at least this makes you feel like you are accomplishing something.

As you near the end of the list, two upgrades in particular catch your eyes. They were labeled ‘Assault Shield’ and ‘Commander’s Suite’. Interested, you expand them to take a look. Reading the packages, you see that the Assault Shield is just that, a shield. Granted, it’s a four foot long, two and a half foot wide, quarter inch thick piece of titanium alloy. However, it’s still a shield. But, the shield isn’t what’s grabbing your attention. It’s the Commander’s Suite.

The package is telling you that your suit gets a ton of tactical programs and an improved communications array, but that’s not even the most important part. The package stated that you would be receiving your own AI for your suit. That’s a pretty big fucking deal. The Terran Navy doesn’t hand these things out to just anyone. The fact that AIs were being handed out in a drop pod speaks volumes for what the Stalwart is about to do. The only reason your frigate had an AI was because it was supposed to be autonomous. You were just along for the ride as a troubleshooter in case anything broke. You select the two options and add them to the list.

Finally... something I can talk to that will make sense! And it isn’t a tiny talking horse thing.

Finally feeling a tiny bit better about being stuck on some moon, you initialize the upgrade sequence. Hundreds of tiny robotic arms fly out of the sides of the pod and start replacing components across your suit. In a matter of a few minutes, the upgrades are complete and your suit’s computer reboots due to the firmware and software upgrades. The assault shield pops out of the side of the pod and you affix it to the back of your suit. You notice that the assault shield is also the same color scheme as your armor.

Did Virgo know what this pod was?

Your visor’s heads up display flares back to life. A few new icons appear on your visor as the computer comes online. A message pops up on your visor.

[PLEASE SELECT A NAME FOR YOUR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE]

You think for a moment on names and one jumps to the forefront of your mind.

“Hecate.”

[NAME ACCEPTED]

[INITIATING AI]

A female face appears in the lower left corner of your visor.

“Greetings, Lieutenant Commander Anonymous. My name is Hecate. I am a programmer specified Artificial Intelligence. I hope to be of the very best service to you.”

The AI speaks with a somewhat deep female voice.

“Hello Hecate. Scan on all frequencies for a beacon signal.”

“Understood. Suit sensors pick up multiple beacon signals several thousand kilometers away.”

“Wait, multiple?”

“Yes, multiple signals Lieutenant Commander Anonymous.”

“Cut the rank Hecate. Just Anon will do.”

“Understood, Anon.”

“Show me the directions of the beacons and what kind of beacons they are.”

“Understood, Anon.”

A large number of arrows pop up on your visor all at once. Most of them are pointed to the bottom of your visor while a single one is pointed directly upwards. You look down to find out that all of the beacons shown are drop pods. You remember all the shooting stars from before and put two and two together. You look upwards and, sure enough, that beacon is the frigate. The frigate is also several thousand kilometers away.

“Hecate, are you able to run a diagnostic on the ship from this distance?”

“I will see if I am able. One moment please, Anon.”

…

“I am afraid to inform you that the sensor arrays on this suit are inadequate to reach the frigate, Anon.”

“Wonderful... Calculate travel time to reach the frigate via space suit thruster travel.”

“Estimated travel time to reach frigate via space suit thruster travel is seven standard Terran cycles.”

“Great... I would die of dehydration before I even got to the frigate, assuming there is air outside of this moon’s atmosphere. What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

As if in response to your question, you start glowing with a purple aura. Your vision flickers for a moment and you find yourself standing in a clearing in a wooded area. It appears to be night-time. You take a look around and see that you are standing in the middle of what looks like a magic circle that old Terran cults used for rituals.

“I-It worked! Trixie did it! Trixie has summoned the Outsider!!!”

The fuck?

You turn around to find another horse creature staring at you. The creature sounds female and has an azure coat with a two tone pale blue mane and tail. She has a horn, she wears a wizard hat and cape, and she also looks ecstatic. You put two and two together again. This horse wizard thing must have brought you here.

Brilliant.

“Now Outsider, as your summoner, I, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE, command you to bow before me!”

You stare the now named Trixie for a moment while the ridiculousness of that statement settles in.

Does she honestly expect me to bow to her?

Seeing your lack of movement, Trixie begins to fidget slightly.

“Did you not hear Trixie? Trixie commands you to bow!”

It seems she really did expect you to bow. Yeah, not happening in a thousand years. You look across your visor’s display to find that the gravity readout went up significantly. You were now at .25G. A quarter of a Terran G. This means the suit is going to feel very light as well as your own body. Whatever planet you are on, it is fairly small.

“OUTSIDER, LISTEN TO YOUR SUMMONER!!!”

Okay, this Trixie is starting to get on your nerves.

“Hecate, activate external speakers.”

“Understood, Anon.”

With an electronic hiss, speakers come to life near your mouth.

“Okay Trixie, let’s set a few things straight.”

You square up to Trixie and cross your arms in front of you.

“One: I bow to no one.”

Trixie visibly flusters at your statement.

“How... DARE you disobey The Great and Power-”

“Shut up!”

Trixie recoils with a small “Eep!” after your outburst.

“Two: I don’t know why you did it, or how, but you have my thanks for getting me off the moon. Don’t think that means anything. Three: Point me to either a Princess Luna or a Nightmare Moon. Either one will work. I have unfinished business to attend to.”

When you mention Nightmare Moon, Trixie’s eyes fill with terror.

“Y-You know Nightmare Moon?!”

“Yes. I set her free. Now get to pointing. You are getting on my nerves.”

“T-T-Trixie thought Nightmare Moon was b-banished to the moon!”

“The operative word in that sentence being ‘was’. Pay attention and start pointing.”

“T-Trixie doesn’t know!”

“Then you are useless to me.”

You attempt to walk away only to have Trixie block your path.

“Wait! You can’t just leave!”

“Oh really? Watch me.”

Even with the added weight of your spacesuit, you easily vault over Trixie and continue walking.

”Stop! The summoning spell has bound you to Trixie! You can’t wander off-Waaah!”

Continuing to walk away, you glance back to see Trixie being dragged behind you a good thirty feet away. Must be magic.

“It looks to me like you have that backwards. I am not bound to you. You are bound to me.”

You continue marching along with a screaming Trixie in tow. It looks like tonight is going to be a very long night.

Chapter 2

Note to self: Take the spacesuit off before you sleep in a wagon next time. But you can’t, because you have to be naked for these suits to work due to the fact that clothing interferes with the pressure regulation of the suit. Although now that you are in an atmosphere with breathable air, that doesn’t matter anymore. However, you sure as hell aren’t going around nude in an alien environment. So, you now have to deal with neck cramps. All because the Loud and Annoying Trixie just had to have her wagon.

...Although you had to admit, it is a rather nice wagon. It is much larger on the inside than it looked. You suppose magic has something to do with that as well. The wagon has a living room, kitchen, storage room, and a master bedroom with an adjoining bathroom. In which Trixie barricaded herself inside all last night. So, you had to make due with the floor because all of the furniture looked too flimsy to support your relatively heavy ass. You also used your helmet as a pillow last night. Which is why you now have a cramped neck. And a pillow being thrown in your face.

As the pillow slides down your face, Trixie comes into view with a very annoyed expression on her face.

“Trixie broke the spell binding us together last night. Trixie was also gracious enough to allow you to sleep in her luxurious home. But now you must LEAVE, Outsider! Trixie no longer welcomes you here!”

Oh boy, here we go.

“I have a name, horse.”

Trixie starts fuming at that.

“TRIXIE HAS ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT TRIXIE IS A UNICORN YOU GIANT SPACE APE!!!”

“Keep calling me Outsider and space ape and I keep calling you a horse.”

“Why you... this is how you repay Trixie’s kindness?!”

“No, this is how I respond when you won’t use my name.”

“A creature as ungrateful as you does not have a name as far as Trixie is concerned.”

“I have a name and you will refer to me as such. My name is Anonymous as you very well know. Now say it.”

“No.”

“Say it!”

“NO!”

“SAY IT YOU STUBBORN DONKEY!!!”

“TRIXIE REFUSES, YOU GORILLA!!!”

Trixie looks like she was going to blow a gasket, but she says and does nothing because she couldn’t. You had a little sit down with Trixie last night. You learned a lot about your new environment from her during the conversation. You also learned that she had spent most of her magical energies on summoning you here. What little bit she had left went into breaking the proximity spell. You let Trixie fume for a little longer before speaking again.

“Look, I need to find Princess Luna or Nightmare Moon. They’re the same person. And guess what? You’re the only ho... pony around. You are all I have to work with.”

In hindsight, trying to leave Trixie wasn’t a very bright idea. While still looking highly vexed, Trixie seems to think on your words for a moment.

”Hmm... Trixie has given this matter some thought. Since Trixie DID summon you here, you are technically Trixie’s responsibility. Trixie can’t have you terrorizing everyone knowing that she summoned you. It would tarnish Trixie’s reputation.”

“You have a reputation? In what?”

You can practically see the pride rising in Trixie.

”Well, if you must know, Trixie is the greatest and most powerful magician in all of Equestria!”

You just stare at the blue mare for a moment.

“...A magician.”

“That is what Trixie said.”

“In a world filled with MAGIC.”

“Trixie fails to see your point.”

Holy hell, this pony is dense.

“Never mind.”

An idea enters your head. Maybe Hecate can help you.

“Hecate, you there?”

The semi-deep female voice of the AI rings out clearly from your suit.

“At your service, Anon.”

Trixie looks around the wagon with a look of confusion.

“Where is that voice coming from?”

Ignoring Trixie, you continue to talk to Hecate.

“Hecate, any idea on how to find Princess Luna?”

”Query subject unknown. My best advice is to seek out the capital city in your current region. Royalty may commonly be found there.”

Obvious, but your brain hasn’t quite recovered from being wrecked upon your arrival.

“Thanks a million, Hecate.”

Trixie is still glancing around the wagon trying to find the source of Hecate’s voice.

“Trixie demands to know how you are doing that!”

Time to tease Trixie. Crank irony to eleven. You clap your hands to the sides of your face and adopt a look of utter shock.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie can’t figure my simple trick out? Why, I’m shocked!”

“Tell Trixie how you did that.”

Let’s see how she likes this one.

“I didn’t do anything. That was my tulpa.”

Trixie goes from looking annoyed to genuinely confused.

“Tul-wha? Tell Trixie what that is.”

“Anon, I am not a tulpa.”

“You’re a tulpa for now, Hecate. And I’m not telling you, Trixie.”

“Trixie demands to know!”

“Go read a book. You may learn something. Like how to call someone by their proper name.”

“Stop making fun of Trixie, you monkey!”

“Too much fun to stop. Deal with it, mule.”

Trixie scrunches up her nose at you with a look of annoyance. It would be kind of cute if Trixie wasn’t being a huge bitch.

“Anyways, you heard Hecate. The capital city of wherever we are is where we need to go.”

“Trixie told you last night that we are in Equestria!”

“I stopped paying attention after you wouldn’t shut up about yourself. Now, less talking and more travelling.”

“Fine! If this will rid Trixie of your infuriating presence, then Trixie will gladly do it!”

“AND DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!”

Trixie slams the door harder this time, enough to rock the wagon.

“Well then...”

A moment later, the wagon lurches into motion, signaling that your journey has begun. You gaze out of a window in the side of the wagon to see sunlight streaming through. Looks like Nightmare Moon’s plan for eternal night got cut short by a few infinities. Speaking of Nightmare Moon, you idly wonder if anyone aside from Trixie knew about your involvement with her release. Since there’s no way to tell, you decide to cross that bridge when you get to it.

After a few minutes of sitting on the floor of the wagon, you get bored. You put your helmet on and decide to try and do something productive.

“Hecate.”

“Yes, Anon?”

“Bring up the beacons again.”

A clutter of arrows and distances pop up all over the visor’s display.

“How many beacons in total?”

“Total count is eleven drop pods and one distress beacon from the frigate.”

“Any drop pods near our position?”

“The closest drop pod to our position is thirty five kilometers away. Current direction and travelling speed places us reaching the drop pod in three hours and thirty minutes.”

More good news.

“Alert me when we are within five kilometers of a drop pod. Do this for all remaining pods.”

“Understood Anon.”

With nothing else to do, you settle in for a long wait.

---SEVERAL HOURS LATER---

You see that the sky outside has turned the colors of sunset.

“Hecate...”

“Yes, Anon?”

“I thought I told you to notify me if we passed within five kilometers of a drop pod.”

“Yes you did, Anon.”

“Why haven’t you notified me?”

“Our direction slowly changed away from the drop pod signal. We are now currently ninety-one kilometers away from the nearest drop pod.”

“Fantastic...”

The wagon jolts to a stop, nearly causing you to fall. A few moments later, the outside door flies open and Trixie sticks her head in.

“We have arrived in Canterlot. Now hurry up. Trixie has better things to do than be a taxi for some giant space baboon.”

You get to your feet, nearly scraping the top of your helmet on the wagon’s ceiling.

“I don’t know, I kinda like riding in a mule-drawn wagon.”

A look of shock plays across Trixie’s face before being replaced by annoyance.

“Out with you! Out, out, OUT!!!”

You have to duck low and turn sideways, but you manage to exit the tiny door. After wiggling out of the doorway, you can see the most beautiful sunset you’ve ever seen. This is definitely more beautiful than the sunsets back on Earth. The colonies didn’t even have suns. It leaves you slightly awestruck.

“Come on, monkey, you have places to be.”

Trixie snaps you out of your reverie. You decide to let her insult slide. You walk off with Trixie leading the way while you follow her. Shortly after the two of you start walking, you begin forming a plan of action for when you meet Luna.

So far as you could tell, Luna was the only one aside from Virgo that may have a clue as to why you are here. Perhaps Luna’s sister may have an idea as well. You believe her name was Celestia. Either way, when you met one or both of them, you figure that the best idea would be to ask them if they could get you to the frigate.

As the two of you walk through the city, you take in the sights. The city looks upscale and very clean. Definitely way different than back on Earth and the colonies. Thankfully, Trixie decided to keep her mouth shut for the rest of the walk.

The same cannot be said for the other ponies that have seen you. All of the ponies that have seen you so far have either stood there staring at you or ran off screaming. This doesn’t bode well. You glance at Trixie. She doesn’t seem worried about the commotion so you suppose you shouldn’t be either. You continue on a few more blocks in this manner before you hear the sound of ponies running towards you.

You look around to find six ponies wearing golden armor and equipped with spears running up behind you. They might be more intimidating if they didn’t come up to your hips. Or if you weren’t covered in armor as well. Trixie seems to be keeping her cool. The guards quickly surround you and Trixie. However, they make no threatening moves.

“What is the meaning of this?! Trixie has done nothing wrong!”

One of the guards speaks up.

“Ma’am, step away from the creature. It may be dangerous.”

Trixie seems genuinely surprised at that.

“Creature? Do you not know what stands before you? Do your eyes not see what is plain as day?!”

Trixie points a hoof at you and strikes a dramatic pose.

“THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS THE OUTSIDER!!! SUMMONED BY NONE OTHER THAN THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!!!”

Oh. She’s just using me for free publicity. Real classy, bitch...

All of the ponies that stayed behind to watch the spectacle look at Trixie with a quizzical expression on their faces, guards included. The guards looked back and forth between themselves for a moment.

“Ma’am, why are you walking around the streets with that creature?”

“Trixie is working with the Royal Canterlot Academy’s Summoning school. Trixie is transporting the Outsider to one of our off-site facilities for further examination. Is there a problem with this, guards?”

The guards glance among themselves for a moment. After the moment has passed, a guard speaks up.

“Well... keep your summon under control, citizen, and hurry along to your destination. It is disturbing the peace.”

The ponies in armor walk away and the crowd disperses, murmuring to themselves. After the street is clear, Trixie turns to you wearing a smug expression.

“See that? Trixie diffused the situation with her superior wit and charm. You may thank Trixie now.”

“I suppose you did. Good job.”

“Of course Trixie did a good job. Was there ever any doubt?”

“I doubt your ability to pay attention. Now make with the guiding. I don’t have all night.”

Trixie doesn’t make a retort and instead decides to bask in the glory of her victory. The two of you continue walking around Canterlot for what seems like another hour. Any light has by now long since faded from the skies and it is officially night.

“...Trixie.”

“Don’t say it.”

“Are you lost?”

“Trixie knows exactly where we are.”

“So do I. We are lost.”

“Trixie is not lost!”

“Don’t listen to her Anonymous, she is lost.”

You know that voice. You look around to try and find the body that it belongs to. However, you see that the street is empty.

“Over here.”

You look around again to spot a familiar face sitting on a nearby bench.

“Virgo? What are you doing here?”

“I have some off time from my Zodiac duties. So, I came to see how my favorite human is doing.”

“Who are you talking to?”

You go to answer Trixie but Virgo cuts you off.

“She cannot see me since she wasn’t born under my star sign.”

You decide to answer Trixie anyways.

“A ghost, Trixie. Now hush, the grownups are talking.”

You turn your attention back to Virgo.

“Ghosts are not invisible, monkey. Tell Trixie who you are speaking to.”

“My my, Anonymous, you have quite the way with the mares.”

“I only have quite the way with this particular mare. She hasn’t shut up since I met her.”

“Trixie heard that, you baboon!”

“My word, does she ever stop?”

“No.”

Trixie is still spouting out noise at you, but you tune it out.

“Best of luck to you with your marefriend Anonymous.”

It takes you a second, but you catch what Virgo is getting at.

“Not in a million years, Virgo. Especially not with THAT mule.”

You hear Trixie’s yelling increase in volume, but you don’t care.

Virgo giggles at your statement.

“So you think, Anonymous. By the way, look up. It’s Mistress.”

Looking skywards, you lock eyes with Princess Luna as she rides by overhead in a chariot. Luna’s eyes light up with recognition upon seeing you.

“Sister! That’s Anonymous!”

Luna leaps out of the chariot and snaps her wings open to slow her fall. Once she lands, she runs over to you and hugs your neck with her forelegs.

“Oh Anonymous, we thought you were still on the moon! How did you get here?”

You would answer, but Luna’s got you in a vise-tight hug.

Holy hell, this pony is strong!

You tap her shoulders and try gesturing that you can’t breathe. Looking to Trixie proves no help as she’s frozen in shock from Luna’s arrival. You try looking around for Virgo, but she disappeared. You hate it when she does that. Luna catches on eventually and lets go. She sits down on the sidewalk and grins at you sheepishly. You take your helmet off, which falls to the ground, as you gasp and weeze to open your windpipe back up. You hear a concerned voice speak out from above your head.

“I think your enthusiasm got carried away, sister.”

Looking up, you see who you can only assume to be Princess Celestia gliding down to the street below. Her coat is the purest white. Her mane and tail are prismatic and billowed in a non-existent wind, just like Luna’s did. She also wears jewelry like Luna and has a longer horn than Luna’s. Plus, she’s tall. Much taller than Luna. When she landed, the white pony walks up to you with a warm smile on her face. You notice that her pale magenta eyes are even with your own.

”Luna has told me that you are the one responsible for releasing her. I am Princess Celestia, and you have my thanks, Anonymous.”

Shit, she knows you released the Kraken, so to speak. However, she just thanked you for it. You are unsure how to handle this.

“Umm... you’re welcome, Princess, but you’re not mad about the whole releasing Nightmare Moon thing?”

You don’t see it, but Luna flinches at the mention of Nightmare Moon.

“It is best not to speak on such matters here. Please, join us at the castle.”

“Uhh... she’s kind of travelling with me.”

Celestia looks at Trixie and lets out a giggle.

“She may come as well, then. Guards!”

The chariot you saw earlier lands in the middle of the street. Looking it over, you can see that the chariot is being drawn by two... you think they are called pegasi. They are wearing the same golden armor as the guards you saw before.

“You two may ride the chariot to the castle. Luna and I shall fly.”

“You are too kind, Princess.”

“Please, call me Celestia.”

“If you insist, Celestia.”

Your thrusters couldn’t work under gravity due to programming, so this was fine with you. You pick up your helmet in one hand and Trixie with the other and walk over to the chariot. It is pretty small, but looks like it will support your bulk. After some figuring out, you wind up sitting down facing backwards with your legs hanging off the back of the chariot while holding Trixie under your right arm and your helmet under your left arm. You also have your assault shield attached to your left shoulder because you couldn’t sit down with it attached to your back.

“Alright, all settled in.”

As soon as those words escape your mouth, the chariot takes to the skies. The wind starts rushing over your exposed head as the chariot picks up speed. You are actually surprised at how smooth the take off was. Much better than Trixie’s driving. You swear she intentionally hit every pothole in the road on your ride over just to spite you.

Speak of the Devil and she shall appear. A few minutes after take-off, Trixie starts squirming around in your arm.

“Let go of Trixie you big oaf!”

“I don’t think you want me to do that. Take a look where we are.”

“Trixie doesn’t care about where we are! Release Trixie this instaAAAAAAAHH!!!”

Trixie finally figures out that you and her are currently a few hundred feet above Canterlot. You feel four legs latch onto your arm through your armor and squeeze you in an iron grip as Trixie starts shaking violently.

“NEVER MIND! DON’T LET GO OF TRIXIE!”

You add two and two together again.

“...You’re scared of heights?”

“A-A-A-AM N-NOT!”

“Trixie, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“S-S-SHUT UP! STOP MAKING FUN OF TRIXIE!”

“For once, I’m not.”

While Trixie is busy clamping down on your arm, you look around to see the princesses having a giggle at Trixie’s expense. Seeing a pony fly for the first time, you can’t help but notice how awkward it looks. However, mind bogglingly enough, the two princesses manage to look graceful while looking awkward. You come to the conclusion that ponies are fucking weird.

Celestia flies closer to the chariot so that the three of you may hear each other.

”Don’t worry, Trixie. We have arrived at the castle. The chariot will land in a moment.”

Sure enough, you look down to see ground slowly rising up to meet you. You lift your feet while landing so they don’t drag the ground and gum up the vernier thrusters and various sensors in your armored boots. As soon as the chariot comes to a stop, Trixie practically shoots out of your grasp towards solid ground. She tries to maintain her composure, but fails miserably. Her legs are still shaking. Trixie must really not like heights.

You shift your bulk and get to your feet easily enough. You glance around and see that you have landed in a garden. It’s very beautiful. Definitely better than the sorry excuses for gardens that the colonies had. Turning around to thank the guards that flew you, you see the two guards lying on the ground and panting heavily. Apparently you are heavier than you thought. This also explains why the take-off was so smooth.

“Oh, uhh... sorry gentlemen. Should have warned you about that.”

The two guards just shoot you a look and go back to catching their breath. Celestia and Luna touch down on either side of you.

“Sorry Princesses, I think I broke your guards.”

Luna speaks up this time.

“Fret not over the guards, Anonymous. They are made of tougher stuff than you give them credit for. Now, let us be off to the castle. There is much we have to discuss.”

With that, you follow the princesses as they start walking off. You glance back to see Trixie still sitting in the same spot you left her. She seems unsure as to where to go. You stop walking for a moment and turn to face Trixie.

“Hey Trixie, the castle is this way.”

Trixie looks at you with a frown on her face.

“Trixie knows that.”

A moment passes.

“You can come as well, Trixie. You were invited along.”

Without a word, Trixie stands up and walks past you.

“Trixie also knows that!”

You turn to the princesses and they both look just as confused as you. You don’t know what is wrong with Trixie either. Regardless, the four of you set off towards the castle. Hopefully you can get some answers about this crazy place.

Chapter 3

You awaken from another dreamless sleep to find yourself completely naked. You momentarily panic before remembering that you are in the castle. After you steady your breath, you see that you are staying in a fairly extravagant room. It’s still night outside, but there’s enough light from the full moon to clearly see the room.

You look around and see that your spacesuit is in pieces on the balcony of your room. Good, sleeping in that thing sucks. However, you question why it’s on the balcony. You continue your scan of the room. The bed you are in is a tad small for your frame, but extraordinarily comfortable. All of the furniture looks to be beautifully stained cherry pieces of the highest quality.

They all bear the same golden sun mark that you saw emblazoned on the dais on the moon. After you asked about the mark, you found out that it was Celestia’s “cutie mark”. Apparently, a cutie mark is something every pony gets once they find out their special talent. The mark shows up on their flank and stays there for the rest of their lives, like a tattoo. Once you heard that, you idly mused if your tattoos would work like that.If they did, they would probably lead to highly inappropriate but hilarious results.

You found this information out from Luna over dinner because Celestia had business to attend to. However, before Celestia left, she arranged for an audience at sunrise. Both Celestia and Luna will be there so that the two of them may speak with you and Trixie. Celestia was very intrigued about you and wanted to learn more about Trixie.

Speaking of Trixie, she was remarkably well behaved last night. Apparently she could keep her mouth shut. Which surprised you to no end. You still believe that she kept quiet because the princesses were present. You personally didn’t care about their royal status. You didn’t care about social status in the Terran Navy and you sure aren’t about to start caring now.

The only thing you care about right now is gathering as much intelligence on the world around you to ensure your own survival. You hope to extract as much information from Celestia as you can during your audience at sunrise. You tried extricating information from Luna last night over dinner, but she didn’t have any useable information outside of what Trixie told you. Swinging your legs off the bed, you sit yourself upright and begin to contemplate your current predicament now that your adrenaline rush has worn off from the reactor collapsing.

You have a gut feeling that returning home would be a lot harder than coming here was. Plus, you still have the the frigate and the drop pods to think about. If your assumptions are correct, there are things in those drop pods that should not fall into anyone’s hands except yours. Sure, the pods are designed to withstand atmospheric entry and landing, are made of the same titanium/ceramic alloy your shield and suit are made of, and required a suit’s Terran Navy identification codes to open, but there is always the possibility of things running afoul.

The frigate, however, is a much different matter. There really isn’t much you can do about the frigate one way or another. In fact, you don’t even know if the frigate is useable. On one hand, the reactor did kind of collapse into a black hole. On the other hand, drop pods landing on the moon and on this planet point to at least some of the frigate arriving to this universe intact. The ship was massive, so surely some of it would remain in working order. You’re not sure how, or even how long it would take, but you will make that frigate space worthy.

Mulling these thoughts in your head, you stand and scan the room for a second until you find the latrine. You enter it and find yourself facing a large wall-mounted mirror. You walk closer and begin to inspect your visage. Still as hairless as ever. The laser hair removal procedure was well worth the price just to not have to deal with shaving and waxing your entire body anymore.You need to stay hairless so that the neural interface of your suit could work at full efficiency.

Having had enough of looking at yourself, you turn to examine the rest of the latrine. There is a shower, a tub, and a toilet, all made of porcelain. And they are all too small for you. However, that’s not going to stop you, damn it. Your ass is going to get washed. You can smell yourself and you reek. It’s a good thing your suit is airtight.

A little further investigating reveals toiletries. There is even a razor, not that you need it. After looking over the toiletries and picking out what you’ll need, you look back at the shower and sigh. May as well make the best of what you have. With a little creativity, you manage to finish your morning routine.

Towelling off, you walk out of the latrine and over to your suit. Due to the low gravity of this planet, it takes far less time to properly assemble your suit. As you lock the final piece of ablative plating in its place and strap the tool belt in its proper place, you look up into the night sky to see that the full moon is halfway through its descent. The moon of this planet is a lot bigger, brighter, and more beautiful than the one back on Earth, or any of the other planets you’ve been to. You attribute this to the moon being much closer in orbit to the planet. You also notice that the craters on the moon vaguely resemble a unicorn’s head.

That’s Strange...

You look out across the peaceful cityscape below you to see the gentle glow of Canterlot in its nocturnal state. It seems that everything about this place has a certain... air about it that makes everything look just that much more beautiful. You grab your helmet and carry it under your arm as you exit the room. You don’t have to duck under this doorway, and it is plenty wide enough for you to fit through unhindered. The ceilings of the castle are also vaulted, so there’s plenty of headroom for you.

Luna said that she would send guards to find you for the sunrise audience. Knowing that, you see no harm in doing a little exploring of the castle grounds. So, you do just that.

Not long after you set off on your exploration, you come across a hallway full of masterfully crafted stained glass windows. It seems that these windows tell a story.

The first window tells you a story of who you presume to be Celestia and Luna facing opposite directions with the sun and the moon positioned in front of their respective Princess. However, a few things strike you as odd about the window. The first one is that Celestia is depicted as having a pink mane and tail. You know that is not the case as of now. The second thing you notice is that the moon depicted in this window is pristine and crater free.

Interesting.

Using what knowledge you gathered from your time here, you assume that both Celestia and Luna can control the sun and the moon respectively. So, you assume that this window is telling you that Celestia and Luna raise and lower the sun and the moon. The implications of that are kind of frightening.

However, the next window tells you about Luna despairing alone for some reason. After a moment of thinking on why Luna would be sad, you come to the conclusion that ponies, for the most part, must be a diurnal race. Horses back on Earth are diurnal, so you figure it’s not too far of a stretch to assume ponies are as well. She must have been lonely being the Ruler of the Night.

The next window shows you a scene which you can easily interpret. Nightmare Moon poised dramatically with a crescent moon set against a starry background. The scene is very powerful and portrays a feeling of righteous fury in your mind’s eye. This scene is clearly portraying Nightmare Moon’s first attempt at an eternal night.

You pause your viewing of the windows to contemplate the implications of an endless night. If Luna and Celestia lowered and raised the sun and the moon, then it stands to reason that one, if not both, could refuse to lower their respective astrological body.

Assuming that this planet rotates its sun and that the moon rotates this planet, that would mean that Celestia and Luna are in possession of a power source strong enough to move untold amounts of mass on a whim. Now you understand why Trixie was on her best behavior. You still give no fucks. Even if Celestia and Luna could very well be actual deities.

So, if Luna refused to lower the moon, that would mean that the planet was locked with one side facing the sun and the moon was locked in place over the planet. Now, you’re no scientist, but you reckon that moons that don’t keep spinning start falling. And even if that was not the case, the environmental havoc that an eternal night would play on a planet would be devastating to say the least.

One side of the planet would freeze while the other side boiled. It would be a slow, agonizing, and brutal way for an entire planet to die. Humans invented a lot of ways to kill things on a mass scale, but you think that Nightmare Moon’s method might just beat out any human method in terms of cruelty. At least humans kill quickly compared to the unknown amount of time it would take a planet to freeze over on one side while roasting to a barren wasteland on another.

The more you think on the implications of an endless night, the less you believe that Luna was simply lonely in that last panel. You will have to ask one of the princesses what circumstances actually led to Luna becoming Nightmare Moon. ...On second thought, that may not be a wise course of action. You will have to find out that information out on your own.

Knowing how the tale ends, you go and view the rest of the windows. The next window shows Celestia using several objects in a battle between herself and Nightmare Moon. It must have been difficult for Celestia to have had to do battle against her own sister, but from the look on Nightmare Moon’s face, she had absolutely no troubles with it. In fact, Nightmare Moon looked like she was enjoying it. This depiction also raises the question of why Celestia would need artifacts to help her when, presumably, she can move a star by will alone.

The next window shows a full moon with a unicorn’s head etched across its face in craters in the top half with Celestia shedding a tear in the bottom half. That explains the craters. They must have been a side effect of Luna’s banishment.

The final window shows Celestia with her currently colored mane and tail with both the sun and the moon to her left and right. Clearly, this window is telling you that Celestia had to pull double time for her sister. Piecing together what you’ve heard from Trixie, Virgo, and Luna, Celestia had virtually no free time to herself over the thousand years of Luna’s banishment.

Celestia had to not only raise and lower both the sun and moon by herself, she also had to run a country and attempt to help her sister every night for a thousand years without ever missing a single night. You have to respect dedication like that. No human or other sentient species that you’ve ever met could keep that standard for even a decade. You know you couldn’t have.

While you were lost in thought, you failed to notice three shadows gliding silently towards you. A few paces away from you, the shadows begin to solidify into the forms of three ponies. A pony clears its throat and begins speaking.

“Excuse us.”

Pulling you from your reverie, you look around for the source of the noise. Three slate gray ponies dressed in midnight blue armor stand to your left. However, something struck you as odd about the ponies. These ponies had bat wings. And golden glowing feline eyes. You haven’t heard of any pegasi with bat wings before.

“Your audience with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia will begin in fifteen minutes. Please come with us.”

All three of the ponies spoke at the same time and even sounded the same. It’s kind of creepy. However, you oblige the bat-like ponies and set off with the three of them. Roughly five minutes later, the bat ponies halt before a set of very large double doors.

“We have arrived. Please enter. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia will arrive shortly.”

Hearing the three of them speak in unison again is still slightly unnerving. The three bat ponies march off, in step even, and leave you in front of the doors. You grasp the handle of one of the double doors and push it open to see an opulently furnished study. The study smelled of old books and aged furniture. It had a sense of tranquility about it.

As you look around the study, you notice that no one else has arrived yet. Oh well, a little waiting won’t kill you. You walk inside and look for a place to sit down. However, none of the furniture looks like it can support your weight. All the furniture also looks expensive. Come to think of it, you’re broke here. You’ll have to rectify that soon.

So, instead of breaking the expensive looking furniture, you set your helmet down on the floor and sit down on that, just like you did at dinner last night. You have a feeling you’ll be sitting on your helmet a lot. No sooner than your armored ass gets properly seated, the double doors to the study open. Celestia walks into the room alone.

“Looks like we both arrived early. This is good. I wish to speak to you in private before we begin the audience in earnest.”

The kind and warm tone you heard from Celestia earlier is still there, except there is a hint of an edge in her voice.

“Equestria is a peaceful land where any and all races may live. However, I take the safety of all my subjects very seriously. I abhor violence. It is such an ugly thing. I hope you share my sentiment on this matter?”

Celestia’s tone never dropped her motherly tone, but you know that her question wasn’t actually a question. While she was talking, you looked into Celestia’s eyes to determine her intent. What you saw staring back at you was her usual kindly look, but there was something more to it.

Behind the kind, calm, and serene eyes, there was an adamantine will and a hint of fire. You determine from this that what Celestia said is not a threat, nor is it a promise, but a mere statement of fact. Similar to how a mother would remind her child to be back before curfew. The child knows what happens if the rules are broken. And so do you.

There will be no mercy.

Feeling it best to not say anything, you simply nod in affirmation. Celestia smiles warmly at your answer.

“I’m glad we are in agreement. I hope that you find your stay in the lands of Equestria to be pleasant in all of your ventures, whatever they may be.”

As you nod yet again as an answer, the double doors to the study open again to reveal Trixie and Luna walking in.

“Ah, I see we are all present. Sister, let us begin the audience.”

---MANY HOURS LATER---

Holy hell, today was long. You are back in the guest room you’ve been put up in, sprawled out across the floor. And you were totally drained. Not physically, but mentally. You didn’t even bother taking the suit off. So much happened today that you were still trying to parse it all.

During the audience with Celestia and Luna, you were told that Outsider is a catch-all term used on anything that isn’t native to the world you’re currently on. You weren’t the first thing here that’s a non-native. This information contradicts Virgo’s information, but you remain silent. You’ll have to ask Virgo next time you see her.

The princesses also found out that Trixie had summoned you from the moon and broke the binding spell between you two in the same night. Apparently, that was some seriously high caliber magic. After what you could only assume to be a bit of poking around inside of Trixie’s head, Luna took Trixie as her student on the spot.

Luna apparently saw a load of latent potential inside of Trixie that she felt could be brought to the surface. Trixie didn’t say a word throughout the entire exchange. You assumed that she was still starstruck about the whole royal deity thing or some such nonsense.

Once Celestia learned that you were summoned by Trixie, you were told that legally you are bound to Trixie until you are unsummoned. So, that meant that the Blue Menace is your guardian for the foreseeable future. Well that’s just fucking wonderful. And that wasn’t even the worst part of your day.

After the audience was completed, Celestia had apparently arranged for a “scientific interview” to be done. Long story short, you and Trixie were assaulted by pony scholars, philosophers, scientists, and doctors until the sun went down.

It’s a good thing all AIs came with First Contact procedures and all the data associated with it. Hecate really saved your ass by answering nearly all the questions the ponies had. If Hecate is that great of a diplomat, she must be an ungodly skilled programmer.

You also found out that your suit could now project holograms, which was even more helpful for both you and Hecate in explaining things. It must have came with the Commander’s Suite upgrade. Of course, the ponies were absolutely fascinated with the concept of an artificial intelligence. The ponies were fascinated with all of your tech to be honest, even the basic tools in your tool belt.

Some, however, were horrified by it. Most notably, Celestia seemed very put off by Hecate. Luna, however, couldn’t take her eyes off of Hecate’s holographic form. From the look on Luna’s face, you could tell she thought Hecate was the coolest thing she had ever seen. After the novelty of Hecate wore off, attention was turned back to you.

The scientists asked if they may inspect your suit while the doctors wanted to examine your body. Since you severely doubted that the ponies could reverse engineer any of your tech, you obliged to having your suit inspected.

Before you took your suit off, you warned the ponies that you were completely naked underneath the suit. The ponies said that it would be a non-issue since they were professionals and could handle themselves. Celestia, Luna, and Trixie, however, opted to relocate on hearing that. You saw the three of them blushing faintly and are still wondering how they could do that through a layer of fur. You personally didn't care if they saw the goods or not. You weren’t shy at all.

Either way, you removed the suit and left Hecate with the scientists while the doctors began to examine your body. True to their word, the doctors acted professionally and were not even phased by your nudity. However, the doctors were intrigued by your hands and fascinated by your feet. In fact, the doctors were interested in nearly every single detail about your body, especially your hairlessness. One doctor would not stop poking you in the nose because, according to him, no other species known to ponies has an actual nose like you did.

After the initial examination of your form, the doctors wanted to start performing some basic tests. It was at this point that you found out that you were extraordinarily dense compared to a pony. You expected this since the high gravity of Earth meant that your body was far denser than most other alien races. However, you found out that you weighed much more here.

You actually broke the first scale that you were put on. Crushed as soon as you set foot on it. It almost made you feel fat. After all, you weighed two hundred and twenty pounds under standard Terran gravity and every last bit of it was muscle. It was quite the blow to your ego.

One of the doctors left to go get a bigger scale. At this point, a scientist comes up and tells you that the examination of your suit can’t be conducted because the suit is simply too heavy for them to move, even with magic. The scientists wanted to know how much the suit weighed. So, everyone waited for the bigger scale to arrive. Of course, you were pelted with questions while you waited.

A short time later, the doctor wheeled in a pretty hefty looking scale. He stated that this scale could handle up to five tons, so he was confident that it could support you. So, you were weighed first.

You couldn’t believe your eyes.

The scale says you weigh one thousand, seven hundred and sixty pounds.

The doctors thought the scale was broken as well.

After about five minutes of checking and rechecking the scale, it was discovered that the scale worked flawlessly. You really were just that heavy. The scientists asked you to put the suit onto the scale for them since they could not lift it themselves. You easily hoisted the entire suit in your arms and set it onto the scale. Once again, the scale stuns everyone.

Your suit weighed two thousand, two hundred and forty pounds.

The scientists and doctors stared slack-jawed at you momentarily because you just picked up a ton like it was nothing. You were shocked by the fact that you actually weighed two tons wearing your full suit. The ponies decided to call it a day at that point.

You still are shocked by the fact that you weighed two tons. Which is why you are lying on the floor and not on anything else. You fear that you will break something if you even touch anything too hard now. Weighing two tons also means that you won’t be able to go any place that won’t be able to support your weight. Wooden stairs are now your mortal enemy. Speaking of support, how did that bed and Trixie’s wagon support your heavy ass?

As you ponder these thoughts, Hecate’s hologram flares to life in the air before you. It’s an orange, translucent human form that’s vaguely feminine in appearance.

“Anon, now that we are alone, there are some things of great importance that I must tell you.”

“What’s that, Hecate?”

“The first thing that I must tell you is that nearly every pony that you have met has been afraid of you on some level. Celestia in particular is very fearful of you. Only five ponies have not shown any fear towards you. Those five ponies being Trixie, Princess Luna, and the three bat-like ponies.”

“Celestia being afraid of me is definitely a surprise. The rest is old news, Hecate.”

“I am aware, Anon. However, this point ties into my next point. Ponies have been lying to you. Particularly Princess Celestia.”

Your face dons a look of concern once you hear this.

“How do you know this?”

“I have cannibalized the code from the advanced speech recognition software into my own code. I have also been monitoring the environment since the moment I have been activated. Using the multi-spectrum sensors installed in your suit, I am able to read body language and facial expressions of ponies you are communicating with.”

“How are you able to read the facial expressions of a race that was previously unknown to any database?”

“Anon, I am also programmed for First Contact, as you know. Part of First Contact is being able to identify similar races to a new race and extrapolate data based off of the similar races to use on the new race. Since pony biological features match up with several known species in my databank, I was able to extrapolate a large volume of data. Enough data to provide a very low statistical probability for error in my estimations.”

“Okay then... what was Celestia lying to me about?”

“My best guess is that Celestia is lying to you about her knowledge of what the Outsider means. She is withholding that information from you. Celestia is also lying to you about not knowing why you are here. If you will remember, Celestia wished your stay in the lands of Equestria to be pleasant in all of your ventures, whatever they may be. Celestia knows why you are here, Anon.”

You don’t quite know how to feel at this revelation. Hecate’s hologram turns from her normally expressionless facial features to a look of genuine concern.

“There is something going on here that you do not know about, Anon. I cannot serve you best on my own in this situation. You are stuck in a possibly hostile environment with little to no information on your possible enemies. Your survival depends on this information. As your advisor, I implore you to seek out allies. Your best bet is to start with Trixie and Princess Luna. Princess Luna might be able to shine some light on your current situation.”

You take a moment to consider her words before you respond.

“I suppose those two would logically be the best choice. I’ll also keep a lookout for more promising allies. You can never have too many. Thanks for the advice and watching my back, Hecate.”

Hecate’s hologram smiles at you.

“It is my duty to assist you in all things Anon. It is my greatest pleasure.”

With that, Hecate’s hologram cuts off, leaving you alone on the floor again. A short time later, you fall asleep on the floor, still not taking the suit off. You know you’ll regret it in the morning, but today was one hell of a day.