Chapter 3
While we were walking down the road, i could see all the destruction my pod caused when i crashed. There was a line of half burnt remains of trees with branches scatterred in a radius of fifty meters around it.
“What a mess...” i said, looking at the chaos knowing what caused it.
Applejack stopped moving. She tried to look away as she closed her eyes for a second and then looked at me:
“Why.... Why of all places, you fell in mah farm...” I could feel her anger.
“It's not as if i had the choice...”
“Yeah, right...” said AppleJack, still not trusting me.
“Look, there's things so big up there, they could annihilate this whole place in one single shot.” i said to defend myself, as i remembered the titan, and its massive fleet, over the planet. "I don't even know why they attacked me in the first place, actually."
"You're bluffing, r- right?"
Twilight, was listening in silence, looking at us.
"I wish i was..." i said, angry. "To be honest, I'm not sure if we're even safe down here."
Out of instinct, Applejack looked at the sky. She've never been so scared of the sky in all of her life.
I looked towards the sky with her and said: "I warped directly into the middle of it... and when i realized it, it was too late to stop... They didn't even ask questions, they just shot. If my pod didn't fell on the planet and got destroyed in space, my conscience would have been transfered to a new body, and all of this would have been but a bad dream...” I stopped as my exhaustion made me lose my concentration and yawned loudly "Urgh.... sorry, but it seems you'll have to wait if you want more details, though. I'm too tired." She looked at me.
“Yeah, you better tell us.” she said as she returned her focus on the road and we all continued walking.
"Great.", i thought, "I'm stuck on a planet with two ponies who don't trust me. Yeah, now I'm sure of it: i should have just died in that damn pod..."
Not much was said during that next part of the trip. I did hear Twilight and Applejack speak together, but i didn’t really have the strength to focus on anything for now. I was like a walking zombie, looking around, feeling the breeze on my skin. The sky was beautiful. I never saw a sky in my whole life, not from this point of view anyway, but there was a strange feel to it. As if just being under it was healing me.
Soon, roofs started to appear around us. I looked down from the sky to them. That architecture looked like nothing i ever saw. The houses were white with brown beams of what i thought were wood and the roofs were made of straw. I wondered how some of those houses were able to stay standing as the base was smaller then the floors onto it. The houses were decorated with flowers, bushes and a couple of pink ornaments of which, the doors was decorated like. Those looked so weird to me since i was raised on a station and lived there ever since.
Around those houses, there were lots of other creatures who looked like my 'companions'. As they noticed the three of us, they stopped and looked at me, a question mark on their face. I could see them speak to each other, wondering what i was. I felt alienated to be looked at like this, but i couldn’t do anything really about it. I was an alien in this city- no, on this planet- after all. I was as confused as they were as well when i first saw their specie, and to be honest, i still was. I continued to look around the city, trying not to pay too much attention to the curious around us.
We passed near a sizable building, around double the lenght of the houses around it, well its footprint was, that had a little public plaza in front of it. With the plaza included, the roads formed some kind of an 'H' where the big building was the inside of the top section of it. I can't describe it really since it was but a pile of burning ruins. My two 'companion' equines looked at me and then turned their heads towards where i was looking and that's when they saw it, too.
“Oh my gawsh!”
“By Celestia!”, they exclaimed at the same time, as they were obviously horrified.
I said, horrified, shaking my head a little in disbelief: “Don't tell me my ship... killed innocent people...” even though, i thought there were surely ponies in it when it went down. Such a waste of lives. Tears dripped from my eyes on my cheeks, seeing all those ponies missing their loved ones.
That's when i saw things from another perspective. I was used to see ships and even other humans as little more then things that could get replaced from up there. Crew member knows what are the risks when they sign up, so they arent technically innocents. However, this time, my body couldn’t be replaced and neither those dead ponies could. A lot of ponies were scattered in and around the rubbles. Lots were crying and/or searching the rubble. That building looked as if it was shot by an howitzer artillery module right in the middle of it. The projectile seemed to have entered from the back and came out on the front, creating a crater around three to four meters in radius in the plaza in front of it. A crowd of around twelve ponies, were gathered around the crater and some were inside, examining the alien chunk of scrap which seemed too small (small as in approximately fourty centimeters of radius) to be identified. One thing i was sure of, though, is that it came from my ship...
The two other ponies looked at me as i shielded my face with my arm, as if there was a reflex inside me that didn't want me to be seen crying.
"Are you... crying?" asked the purple one, starting to get some tears as well.
"How can i not cry... they were innocent and seeing all those survivors who lost their friends or family..." i said.
"But..."said Applejack as she had her hat tipped off, in respect for the dead. "What makes you cry for us? We aren't humans like you."
"No, but... seeing cute beings like you crying and being in pain like this... only a monster wouldn't cry..."
As i said that, a certain turquoise colored pony who was observing what was happenning looked around and noticed my two helpers.
“Hey! AppleJack! Twilight!” she said as she waved her hoof at them. Then she noticed me. She looked somehow pretty joyful for some reason, heavily contrasting the current scene, as she closed the distance between us and her. “Is he really a.... human?!”
“Yes, Lyra... It seems your theory about humans was right after all.” said Twilight, as if she was a little too much used to it.
“Haha! I knew it! Every time i looked at the stars at night there was stuff happening up there!”
“How did you know how we, humans, look like?” i asked confused still sad at what i just saw.
She saw the moment wasn't really joyful and made a more serious face. “Well, I actually saw one of your kind. It was actually two years ago, when i went to Canterlot and visited its castle. I noticed there was an semi opened door, leading to a hall, and since no guards was watching i peaked into it. That's when I saw him, speaking with Princess Celestia herself.” Twilight and Applejack seemed exasperated and i could hear a faint 'not again...' “He had two hands like you and was standing on his hinge legs.” She looked at her hooves a bit disappointed. “For those two years, i've been... a bit obssessed with those hands, to be honest... I've felt trapped in my body, not being able to get the experience of what it is to have hands...”
Somehow i could understand her feelings, being trapped in a body or a pod in my case. Controlling another body, or a ship, with my mind, that i've already experienced it as a capsuleer, even though it was never the true experience of having another body. Anyway, the human she saw conscerned me a little. It seemed i wasn't the first, after all to have encountered these ponies. I also wondered about the castle she mentionned since it reminded me the one i saw on the scanners as i was falling down.
“I understand how it feels... I could say i'm kinda in the same situation...” the purple and orange ponies looked at each other, frowning in confusion. “Hum, there is something that made me curious in what you said, though. Would you like to tell me a bit more about the human you saw, if you don't mind, like what was he wearing?”
“Well he was wearing a cloak i think. A brown cloak, that covered most of his body. Only his hands and feet were visible. I could'nt see his head though. Luckily, now with you, i'm finally able to see how your specie looks like!” she was so joyful at finally finding out about us, but it was short live. “Sadly... it had to be on a day like this...” she said as she turned her head to look behind her at the crater and the building in ruins.
“I'm sorry if you lost any friends in there... and sadly, this happenning is no coincidence with my presence down here."
“What do you mean?” she asked as he she looked at my capsuleer suit.
“Oh hum... that's a bit complicated... and like i told hum... Twilight and Applejack?", the two nodded "Yeah, like i told them, i'm too tired right now to go through it.” i responded. I didn't want to break the image she had of humans too much, right now. Not with what just happenned.
“He's gonna tell us his story and what's gonna happen later. He said he needed some rest, before, though and to be honest, we all need to rest too after the shock of this.” Twilight said.
“'No coincidence'.... do you think i could come and listen as well?” asked Lyra, looking worried.
“Hum sure, but i don't think this will be pretty.” responded the pruple mare
“I don't mind. I mean, i want to know a lot about humans! Their good side...” she said joyfully, but then went to a more worried look and tone, “...as much as their bad side.”
I couldn’t stop thinking about the deaths of those defenseless creatures and went in thoughts. There was a ghost that started haunting me and making me feel the guilt of those deaths. And what about my specie? Were we as bad as this? I knew it wasn't my own fault but...
“What is it, LeHarfang?” asked Twilight, as she noticed me worrying.
“Not- hum, nothing. I'll... tell you later, i'm too tired. This... whole mess is making me crazy...” I tried not to cry, but tears were showing anyway.
She and Applejack seemed to have realized how bad the situation was at that moment. Lyra, who saw the damage first-hand, or first-hoof in their case, looked like she understood. That human was the key to understand what is happenning.
“This doesn't sound like good news. Not sure i want to know your story anymore.” said Twilight,
“Sadly, i have the feeling you will need to, one way or another.” I said as we went on towards something that seemed to be a pretty large tree. She sighed and started walking.
-~*~*~*~*~*~*~-
From up close, the tree was as big as the houses around it, maybe even bigger. Yeah it was definitely bigger, with windows and balconies all around it. One of those balcony was at the very top of the tree and there was a big telescope on it. I wondered if we could use it to see the station and the ennemy fleet, for a second. Anyway, we approached the door. It was made into three parts, the bottom two parts with handles and the top one. The latter seemed to have a candle on it, although it wasn't lit, since the sun of the system illuminated the planet. There was a sign, near that door, with a picture of a book on it and I wondered why.
“Why is there a sign with a book, in front of your house, Twilight?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Oh it's simply because it's the town library.” she said, “I live in it actually.”
“I see...” I simply responded as I, Lyra, AJ and she entered.
Inside, almost every walls were covered in books. The main room was round like the tree and at its center lied a pedestal with a horse head statue on it. On the right, there was a stair that went to a higher part of the library, where there were some beds.
“Come, Lee, the beds are upstair. Come with me.” said Twilight as she went towards the stairs.
“Thanks... Twilight, i really appreciate it...” I responded.
“Well, i don't know you, but... i saw your tears earlier, for those poor ponies. They were sincere, and that's when i saw that i could trust you... or at least, I noticed we were both in the same mess.” She smiled at me and i smiled back.
After the stairs, we reached the top and the beds. There were two beds, one closer to the stairs, pointing away from the the front of the library and another one right in the opposite direction. If she and I were to sit in the respective beds, we would be facing each other.
So, Twilight pointed me to the further bed and I sat onto it.
“I'll have to remove that thing if I want to be able to sleep.” I said.
“Oh, I thought it was part of you, hehe, alright. Sorry, it's just that us, we dont need to continually wear clothes” she responded as she stayed there.
“Hum... and you're going to watch? You, see, we humans are kinda... shy about our bodies. Especially... well, the 'bottom' part, if you see what I mean.” i responded in a little bit of embarassment.
“Oh... well, I’ll let you get comfortable and sleep a little. Me and the others will come back later and see if you're awake.”
After a couple of seconds, as she was at the top of the stairs.
“Hey Twilight?"
"Yes?" as she turned her attention on me.
"I was wondering... do you take me responsible for those.... well, for what happenned in the plaza?”
"I don't know yet, to be honest. It will depends on what you will tell us. Anyway, get some sleep and we'll talk about that later.” she said.
I nodded and then she went downstairs. I then proceeded to the removal of my suit and, in my underwear, I took the blanket off a little on the bed and covered myself with it as I laid down on the mattress, my head resting onto the pillow. It seemed the bed was made for more then one pony so I didn’t have any size problem. I closed my eyes and thought about all the stuff that happened today, until I slowly lost conscience as started sleeping.
-~*~*~*~*~*~*~-
Something was weird. Everything around me was dark. I tried moving around but I could'nt. I touched around and realised I was stuck into some sort of a container! A green liquid started pouring from tubes at the bottom, but I had nothing to be able to breath! I tried to yell but no voice came out of my mouth! The goo was now at my waistline and i was banging on the containers! I was panicked and really wanted to be out of here, i felt more and more trapped as the goo reached my head. Soon i would'nt be able to breath anymore!
I woke up in panic as i yelled and realized it was only a nightmare. I sat in the bed and looked around the room huffing and puffing. I noticed by looking in the window that it was dark outside. I could see the moon from here, but as i stood on my feet, still weak from the crash, i approached the window. The houses outside were still there and the ponies as well, although there were a bit less of them around. What i would have given to be in a station back in high security. I turned around and sat on the side of the bed that was closer to the window. I looked at my capsule suit and sighed. If only i took a pair of pants before leaving the station... I didn't really want to put that back on, but at the same time, i could'nt just go outside almost naked like that. Well i could have, but, it would'nt feel right to me. So, i reluctantly put back my garment on.
I was hearing noise from downstairs, as if a whole bunch of ponies were discussing. I went down the steps and saw the three mares there, accompanied by what seemed like a small reptile, still waiting for me. They were all sat around a candle. The whole place was lit with those and it gave the library an eerie atmosphere.
I approached the circle and when they noticed me, Applejack started:
"Ah! We'll finally get to know all about the mess we're in."
“Hum, were you all waiting here this whole time?” i asked a bit surprised.
“Of course not, silly. I went to take a walk around ponyville with Lyra and look if there was any other damage done.”
“Anything else got hit?” i said being a bit worried.
“Well, the town hall is ruined. It's nothing more then a pile of debris now and we've heard other places got hit too.”
“Great...”
I sighed and then, the Twilight said, “I actually stayed here, all of the time you slept. There was a book that i really needed to read.”
"What kind of book?"
"Oh, just an old book about astrology, somepony left in here."
“I see, and the little reptile there, who is he?” i asked nodding towards the small lizard.
“Me? I'm not just any reptile, I'm Spike! A baby Dragon!” the creature said proudly as he stood up, bombing his chest.
“A dragon?! I thought those were only legends. Aren't they supposed to be dangerous?” i said as i looked a bit scared at Twilight.
“Oh don't worry, he's fine. He's still a child of course and he's not dangerous, don't worry.” she told me, with a worried and tensed voice as if she remembered a particular event.
“Hum... alright, if you say so. So, how about we clear up that situation already?”
“Alright, let's get on with it.” said Applejack.
So we all sat in a circle on the ground on cushions with only a couple of candles to light the darkness, in the main room and, well, i started.
“Alright, first i need to check something with you all. You do know how a solar system works, right?” they all shaked their heads in negation, except Twilight who was a bit scared. “Ok....”, i sighed, “Well, i'm gonna explain that before i move on to the situation at hand. In a solar system, there's always a star at the center. Depending on the distance at which we see it, it can be called a star or a sun.”
“Wait, so you mean all those stars we see are actually other suns and worlds?” asked Lyra
“Yes. They all have planets around them, but of course that does'nt mean all of those planets have devellopped life like on this here planet. So yeah in the system we're actually, oddly, there is only one planet-”
“Oh yeah? Which one are we on? Which one are we on?” asked an happy voice out of nowhere.
“Hum... who is that?” i responded, looking behind me.
“Oh hey Pinkie Pie!” said Applejack at the new pink ponie who just entered the library.
The pink pony looked at me for a second: “Hum, you seem familiar...”
“Huh... i... never saw you before...”
"Not you! I mean the other human!"
"Wha... but i'm the only one here, how do you even know how our specie is called anyway?!"
“Oh come on! Don't be so downy!” she said, being the most happy being- counting humans as well- i ever saw.
“Alright, anyways, lets continue.” i said as Pinkie went on to bounce around the room. “Where was I.... oh yeah: oddly enough there's only one planet in your system. Usually, there's at least four or more, but your system seems different as it only had one planet.”, i looked at Pinkie Pie annoyed,“ And obviously, this is the planet we're on, right now."
She stopped bouncing and returned the stare. “Of course i knew that, i just wanted to liven up the place! It looks like a funeral with all those candles around.” I looked down.
"It might as well be one... did you hear about the ponies who died today?"
Her puffy hair went down her look became depressed. "No... don't remind me that..." she said putting her hooves to her eyes, crying.
I tried not to cry as well, and went on as Pinkie approached the circle to hear what i was going to say. “Ok... so, that planet we're on is in orbit around the sun. For your information about perspective, by the way, a planet looks like a little grain of sand compared to the size of a sun.”
Already, i could see frowning and confusion on the face of my listeners. “Yes. The universe out there is pretty big. Speaking of the sun, you do know its responsible for the day...”
They all nodded, wondering why I asked this.
“Alright, and you do know that the night is actually the lack of sun right?”
At that point, i lost them all and their confused look confirmed it.
“I...I thought that it was Luna who brought the night...” said Twilight
“Luna? Huh... I don't know who is she, but i can say the she has nothing to do with it.”
They all gasped at what i just said.
“So... who- or what- brings the night if not Luna, Mister LeHarfang?” asked Lyra. I know it was out of politness she said 'mister' , but somehow, I didn't think i deserved that title.
“Alright, hum... how can i explain this... do any of you have something round? A ball or anything?”, i asked.
They all thought for a while and Twilight seemed to have gotten an idea. She went upstairs and came back with a floating apple around her. She then gave it to me and sat back on her cushion a look of worry in her face. I looked at the apple for a second in my hand and said:
“What the hell did you do? I mean, that glowy purple aura and the floating of the apple? You did it as well with my capsule today, right?”
“Oh, it's called magic. Us unicorns”, she pointed her horn, priding herself, with her hoof , “can use it to cast spells like the levitation one i used to bring you the apple.”
“Wow... that sounds pretty neat. Anyway, thanks for the apple.” i responded as she nodded at me, still worried and impatient of hearing what I was going to say next.. I went on with my explanation. “So, the concept of night and day is as simple as light and shadow.” There was a candle in the middle of our circle. I approched the apple with my hand under it, on one side of the candle creating a highlight on one half of the fruit and a shadow on the other. “Just imagine that this apple right here, is in fact the very planet we're sitting on right now. Do you see it yet?”
“Wait... you're saying that day or night is only because... one side is hidden from the sun and the other not? That does'nt make sense! How would day and night cycle then?” asked Twilight, being skeptical of me, all of a sudden. To answer her question, i simply started rotating the apple on itself.
“Oh now, ah get it, but... does'nt that mean Celestia was lying to us?” asked the farmer mare.
“Alright, who are Celestia and Luna? What do they have to do with this?”
The purple mare responded, as if she was speaking of her idols: “Celestia and Luna are simply the most powerful beings in Equestria and our Princesses! Celestia has always risen the sun and Luna the moon! I've even seen Celestia raise the sun when i was young! They've always been there for us ponies... well, except maybe that problem with Luna who got jealous of Celestia. You see ponies were awake during the day but not during the night. That's when Luna went evil and made Nightmare Moon. She refused to let go of the night so that the sun could take its place, so Celestia had to banish her to the moon, with the elements of harmony. Two years ago, however, she found a way to escape her prison. Me and five other ponies, including Pinkie and Applejack right here, had to use the elements to free her from her madness.”
“Well...”. I sighed as I rubbed my face with my hand. This looked like another goddamn religion without any basis. “...we seemed to have a contradiction between our two stories. From my perspective, day and night works like light and shadows. Gravity and rotation of the planet creates the illusion of day and night. From your perspective, you were taught, and even, somehow showed that it was Celestia and Luna who both made day and night even though I have evidence of my theory.”
“Looks like we're stuck here.” said Lyra who was sat right in between me and Twilight. “Hum, Lee?”
“Yes, Lyra?” i said as i looked at her a bit too seriously.
“What about... what about that human i saw in Canterlot? Do you think he had anything to do with the Princesses?”
“Well, speaking of false believes... from your description, he reminds me of an Amarr priest. Coincidently, its an Amarr fleet that's up there. I despise them for their disgusting religion and their believes that they are superior beings who can enslave other humans for to serve their stupid 'god'.”
They thought for a second.
“Can you please speak about that fleet? No matter how hard it is for us... You said earlier that it was dangerous and ah really need to know what's threatening mah family and friends.” I looked at the origin of the voice and it was Applejack, who was worried, but became more confident as she continued “We must know in what mess we're in.”
I sighed and remembered how i got into this mess in the first place. “Ah... Alright.”
“Here's what happenned to me in details, up there.” i coughed a little and started.
“First, i arrived trough a star gate, which is a huge structure, that can launch ships at the speed of light to another system. Yes, even light has a defined speed" i said as i saw them being confused again. This time, however, Twilight wasn't confused, as if she already knew that. "When i came out, there were two Amarr navy ships there. I thought i was in high security space, in Amarr territory, for a second, but no, this system has been rated as null security so, empires should'nt be here. Plus, those ships weren't the kind they used to patrol their system. Since i was in a ship that could cloak and travel around unseen, i decided to explore the system a bit more.”
“I warped to the planet, of course i had my warp drive set to stop before one hundred kilometer of the target, to not warp right into harms way, and that's when i saw the huge fleet. That first time, i managed to be far enough to avoid getting uncloaked, since an object closer to two kilometer disrupts the cloaking module. There were around a hundred of ships, ranging from small frigates to the gigantic , thirteen kilometers, titan. That was a pretty, but scary sight. Once i saw that fleet, i still wanted to go further and explore the moon, since there's usually star bases there.”
“Sadly, my luck ran out. I did the same as before and warped at one hundred kilometers from the moon's grid and appeared right into two ships of the same size as me, only they were geared for combat and i was'nt. Even with my precaution, they were too close and uncloaked me. That's when i made a mistake: I panicked and warped back at the planet, only this time, i forgot to set the distance properly on the warp drive and ended up right next to the fleet. A few seconds later i was locked on and shot at. My ship got destroyed as i was trying to escape towards the planet, i was between them and the planet, my pod got shot towards it, when it got launched from my ship, and, attracted by its gravity, started to descend in the atmosphere. That's the air around the planet, by the way.”
“The parts of my ships also followed me. At that point, i thought i was done for. You see, as a capsuleer, if my pod is damaged too much, the cable i had on my head would have record, and burn, my brain data and sent it to a station faster then light speed, so that i could be cloned back to life I knew, however, that this communication system would'nt work will all that air around me, so for a moment i thought i was done for. I thought it was the end for me. I mean, i did'nt know where i was going. Even if i survived the crash, i was certain i would get killed by the local fauna or something. That's when i saw a castle a top a mountain, on my scanners as i was falling down. This gave me enough incentive to actually save myself. There was hope and a whole civilisation to explore! I had to live to see it! That's when i reverted my pod back towards the ground to use my propeller to slow my descend the more i could. After that i went through some trees and as my pod hit the ground hard, i lost counsciousness. From what i've seen today, sadly, it seems the debris of my ships fell with me on the planet, though, causing some buildings in Ponyville to go down... so many unecessary deaths...” the sadness was too much at that point and had to take a break.
Pinkie cried again at that point, surely remembering all of her friends who died.
“I'm sorry, Pinkie...” i said looking at her, tears in the eyes, “I couldn't do anything to prevent it.”
“Wait a second, are you insinuating Celestia, and even Luna, is with them?! That they would allow the killing of innocent ponies?!” said Twilight, a bit angry.
“Actually, no. I never said that.”
"Huh... but i thought you were saying that because the Amarr was seen in canterlot, with Celestia... No! Celestia would never betray and kill her subjects! Whatever you or Lyra or that damn book says, I know her and she would never do that!” yelled Twilight at me and Lyra.
“Look, the amarr actually did the killing, not- ” I was interrupted by the reptile.
“Applejack warned you, Twilight.” said a voice next to her. “You knew that the truth would be hard.”
Twilight responded as if she ignored me. “But... Spike! Why would Celestia betray us! That does'nt make any sense! I know her, she's been my magic teacher all my life and she would never hurt anypony without a really good reason!”
“Ah has to admit, Twilight has a point. Celestia never betrayed her subjects over power or anything. Why would she do it now?” asked Applejack.
“What if... she and her sister were actually forced to lie to us?” asked Lyra, out of nowhere.
“Forced, what do you mean, Lyra?” asked Twilight.
“Well, LeHarfang spoke of the amarrs earlier and mentionned that they sanctionned slavery right? Maybe Celestia and Luna are forced to comply with them.”
“But... What kind of power could restrain Celestia against her will, with all her power?!”
No one answered. Twilight went into a deep thinking.
“Are you all done, now?” i said, still annoyed about being interrupted.
“What?” she asked
“Alright, like i was saying, Celestia and Luna didn't do any thing today. Its the amarr that shot my ship, which dropped on the planet. Now that i think about it, i doubt even the Amarr could predict the outcome of our encounter. They shot at me and i happened to be in the right position and direction so that i would drop on the planet.” I explained.
“Another thing does'nt make sense. If the gate to your system was built just two years ago, like it was saying in Concord's database, then that means the Amarr came here two years ago. Concord is the main police force of the high security systems, by the way. That doesn't explain our problem being that the ponies, counting you three, always thought Celestia and Luna made the day and night, and that suddenly, it seems they no more do it.”
Twilight thought about it and answered: “Well, it can be possible with enough power... but, now that you told us about the sheer size of a sun... i'm starting to doubt even Celestia could have that much power.”
“Not to mention a sun is the gravitational pillar of a system. If the sun is moved, the whole system would probably move with it.”, i said.
“So you think that Celestia... would have unknowingly moved the whole solar system all of her life? Both the sun and the planet? Does Celestia have enough power to move all of this?!”
“Hold on. I saw that power you speak of earlier and i'm wondering what it is, exactly?” i asked her.
“What is magic, huh? You started that discussion with the right pony if you want to know about magic.” said Applejack, as she smiled and put an hoof around Twilight's neck,
“Hehe, indeed. I did study magic since i was a young little filly. Alright, magic is basically, the power that us ponies have. It's usually associated with us Unicorns, because we can use it to conjure all sorts of spells, but also other races do have different forms of magic. Like for example, the Earth ponies have a special power that allow them to make food and vegetation grow a lot faster and Pegasus ponies have the power of influencing the weather.”
“Your specie is really interresting, however, we can keep that for later. What is your thought on our current situation?”
“Well...” she thought about it for a moment and suddenly, her face illuminated, “What if, it was actually an illusion all this time? No... what if it was... a second, smaller sun, that Celestia created, that would create the illusion of day and warmth. That would also explain how Celestia managed to move the sun, without Luna caring for the night! It all make sense now!”
“It does make sense indeed.” i responded
I just thought about something else that i needed to ask. It was about something i felt today, before i even warped to the planet.
“If you don't mind, i have another question, Twilight.”
“Of course i don't. Ask anything about magic!” she responded still full of glee from her discovery.
"How does it feel when magic courses through you?"
"Huh? That's a strange question. Well, I don't really know how it feels actually. We just knows it's there.
“From where does this energy, or 'magic' as you call it, comes from?”
“It's inside all of us. It comes from our own bodies, i can feel it flow from it through my horn to manipulate it.”
“That was'nt my question...”
“What do you mean?” she responded confused.
“I mean, that's strange. I felt something course though my body as soon as i arrived in the system. I never felt that way before. From where does this magic, that's in your body, comes from? Everything has a cause and an effect. Your powers ain’t different.”
“I.... I...” she looked at a loss for ideas.
“I don't know!”
“What? What do you mean you don't know?!” said Applejack in disbelief.
Twilight, went on, ashamed of herself looking at both me and Applejack alternatively. “I asked myself that question as well for a long time, but never was able to find anything. Even in the books here and in Canterlot that speaks about Equestria's history and magic. They all say that ponies can use magic... but how ponies got those powers, nothing on that.”
“Maybe... because there was one thing you, ponies, could never saw, under Celestia and Luna's illusions, that you mentionned earlier...”, i started, “...but we humans could see from our point of view.”
“You mean... the real sun?”
“Maybe...”
“Yeah... it does make sense. That illusion is preventing us from studying the rays of the real sun. I detect nothing when i feel the rays of the sun, well illusion sun, on me. I guess Celestia put a spell on it so that we can't identify her magic signature.” she said.
“We don't know yet what was the goal of Celestia in putting that illusion up, however, but it wasn't when she was with-” she stopped for a second and wet on “... huh... under control of the Amarr.” Her mind clearly revolted the idea that Celestia would have betrayed them.
“We don't know of Celestia's motive behind that illusion, indeed, but it does explain why your specie have been in the shadows all of this time. If the sun really has a special property that give you ponies power over matter, that would also explain why the Amarr got interrested in this system.” i said. “I'm pretty sure they would want to study and be able to use it as well. Kowing them, they probably think its some kind of divine power or some crap like that...”
“Well, that's kinda cleared, even though it's just a theory for now.”said Lyra, “Still, their presence worry me a little. As much as i wanted to encounter humans, those Amarrs don't seem too friendly.”
“I agree, they didn't hesitate to shoot me, after all, even if i had neutral standings with them. It's as if they wanted to keep the existence of magic and your specie a secret to the rest of New Eden by killing pods before they could acknowledge what we discovered today and tell it to the rest of New Eden.” All this conspiracy theorism made me smile as i thought i understood the plans of the Amarr. “Unfortunately for them, i crash landed on the planet and... crap...” Suddenly, my smirk disappeared as I realized I was probably a threat to them and that they would probably want to kill me... and i was vulnerable down here.
“What is it? LeH you look pale?”
“He's obviously thinking that the baddies up there will want to come down here and kill him, because he knows too much!!” said Pinkie, over dramatizing, even though she was right. Her hair was still down from the momeries of her dead friends.
“And how about us?!” asked Applejack “We know as well what's happening...”
Was it the end? Were we, me and my new friends, all going to be killed by the Amarr because we knew their plans? No one knew. We weren't even sure that our theory was right. One thing we were sure of, though, is that it would confirmed itself pretty soon if it was true. After that really heavy discussion, everypony decided to stay at Twilight's home for the night until we found a solution to this mess.
-~*~*~*~*~*~*~-
End of Chapter 3