• Published 16th Jul 2015
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Cryo-7 - Metal Pony Fan



Twilight searches the galaxy for the remnants of her world with the help of freelance pilot Astral Plane.

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Welcome to the Hotel Equestria

Astral stared at the ceiling and sighed. He must be crazy. He laid in bed as the sun streamed into the room through a nearby window. Last night, he had bartered his freedom for answers. And so far, all he had to show for it was a hotel room.


It was a repurposed room. Repurposed from what, the unicorn couldn't tell, but the welds and cuts on the walls showed that this room wasn't always living quarters.


Astral rolled over in the bed and looked over the room's contents. It was well furnished for its size. A low table sat in the center of the room, and past that was a small kitchen. Opposite the window, there were two doors. One door led to a small washroom, and the other to an antechamber which exited to the hallway.


One of the first things he had done after being given the room was to check those doors and see if he could disable the locks. He couldn't, because there were none. The only locking mechanism in the room seemed to be the one on the washroom door, and it was a very simple mechanical deadbolt.


He had of course assumed this to mean he was being watched. But, he used one of the few spells he knew to sweep the area for electronic devices. He found nothing besides the obvious kitchen appliances. There was a slightly unusual response from the toaster, but after spending forty minutes disassembling it, all he found was a faulty power regulator.


He wasn't locked in, and he wasn't under surveillance. They didn't even bother taking his jacket, even though they knew about his knife and pistol. Who were 'they' even? Since the president and his entourage left the landing platform, he had only seen two ponies, Mac, and the soon to be Luna. Maybe those two were the only ones here.


There was a knock at the door, and Astral rolled out of bed. He really should be more on edge, but things were so messed up that thinking about it gave him a headache. Technically, wasn't he a prisoner? Or a slave? At the very least, he was at indentured servant level, despite the illegality of any of those three. Yet, he was armed, comfortable, and his captors were respecting his privacy.


"Who is it?" He called.


"Room service," came the reply. The voice belonged to the blind mare.


"It's unlocked, but I'm guessing you already know that." Astral yawned and opened the door. In addition to the mare he had been expecting, there was a wall of red behind her. "Oh, hey, Mac. So, are the two of you coming in, or am I going out?"


"We are entering." The blind mare pushed past Astral. She towed a plastic bag along in her magic. "We have brought breakfast. And we have taken your medical circumstances into account." She rang her bell then walked to the table. Once there, she set her bag down and rang her bell a few more times. With a look of confusion on her face, she walked over to the kitchen area and felt along the counter. It wasn't long before she found a pile of electronic components. "What is this?" She picked up some of the pieces, turning them over in her hooves. She gave one a tentative sniff and let out a loud sigh. "Is this the toaster?"


"Yeah." Astral yawned again. "I took it apart."


Mac walked in and looked at the toaster. He seemed to have recovered a bit from last night's breakdown, but wasn't as energetic as he had been on the station or shuttle ride. "Why?"


Astral shrugged. "I thought there was a camera in it, turned out to be a defective part."


"If it was already broken, being dismantled is no great loss." The blind mare returned to the table and started unpacking the bag. "I would hope you can restrain from taking apart any working appliances."


As the mare took out cheap covered trays and laid them out, Astral sat down at the table. There weren't any chairs, but the table was the right height to sit around. "Why do you speak like that? You refer to yourself as 'we' and 'I' interchangeably?"


"Yes, we do." She started opening the trays, smelling them, and shuffling them around as Mac joined them at the table. "It is traditional for Luna to refer to herself as 'we,' and I... We are still getting used to it."


Judging by the way she was arranging the trays, she and Mac were staying for breakfast. The last thing she pulled out of the bag was a stack of disposable plates and a bundle of plastic utensils. She laid out three plates and set the rest on the counter. But, her plate was doubled up, like she was keeping an extra one on hoof. Somepony would probably be joining them. "So, what should I call you? Luna? Blind mare? Hey you?"


She smiled softly and distributed the utensils, sticking some in the trays for serving purposes. Like the plates, she kept an extra set for herself. "Since you have joined us, you can call me by my given name, Silver Wind. Silver will do as well. But I will ask that you call me Luna in public."


"Us?" Astral watched as Mac took a little bit of food from every tray. At least he knew there wasn't anything funny in the food, like truth serum or knockout drops. "What exactly have I gotten myself into here? I was told I would have to give up my freedom for answers. So far, I don't feel like I've lost anything, and I sure haven't gotten any answers."


"That is a literal way to look at it, and only partially true." Silver started loading her plate. She was much more selective than Mac, but took more food overall. "It would be more accurate to say that the answers themselves will restrict you. The farther you accompany us on our path, the harder it will be to turn back. At least, that's how it was for me."


Astral groaned. "Yay, more riddles." He started adding food to his own plate, copying Mac and only taking a small sampling of each item. He didn't recognize the dishes, but it all smelled pretty good. There were noodles mixed with vegetables, fried items, and some sort of cooked grain. “If I'm not going to get answers soon, am I free to search for my own? I have to track down somepony who tried to have me killed, and try to find out who he hired to do it. Then I have to track down the damn Celestial that nearly succeeded where the others failed."


"That's funny,” sneered voice behind him, “as I recall, that 'damn Celestial' was the one who almost died."


Astral spun around. He barely had his jacket unzipped before he was floored by a heavy blow to the back of his head. Damn that giant earth pony. Astral tried to right himself as his jacket was torn open by magic that was not his own, knife and pistol ripping themselves from their holsters.


Astral looked up. The Celestial stood over him, weapons in front of her and wrapped in violet aura. "Come to finish it?" he all but spat.


She snorted and walked away from him. She sat down next to Silver, who gave her the reserve plate and utensils. "I came to have breakfast, not be assaulted again."


Astral pulled himself to his hooves, using the table as a support. The blow had been strong, but not enough to knock him out. With a clatter, his weapons dropped onto his plate, crumpled beyond use or repair. "You're lucky that didn't go off."


"Don't worry, I've learned my lesson." She gingerly touched one of the small, stick-on bandages on her face. Its indicator pulsed a gentle green color, indicating that the wound was being kept sterile. "I'll be prepared for such weapons in the future."


Mac cleared his throat as the two glared at each other. "What exactly happened on that spaceship?" Both of them looked over at the same time, and Mac shrank back a bit. "Ah'm guessing it was nothin' good."


Astral pointed at the Celestial. She pointed back at him. In unison, they shouted.

"He tried to kill me!" "She tried to kill me!"

They looked back at each other and growled.

"I did not!" "I did not!"

"You did too!" "You did too!"

Silver slammed a hoof on the table, rattling the plastic trays. "Shut up!" The other three stared at her as she cleared her throat, ran a hoof through her mane, and calmly continued speaking. "We can solve disputes later. In the meantime, Astral has been waiting for answers. Did you bring the pictures?"


With one last glare at Astral, the Celestial nodded. "Yes." She took a small view screen out from under her wing. It was similar to the one that President Jones had, but lacked the joystick. Touchscreen then. She switched it on and gave it to the blind mare. "Eckrt is on the screen now."


"Thank you." Silver said with a nod. She then gave Astral the screen. "Do you recognize this pony?"


Astral looked down at the screen. It showed a brown earth pony with a light tan mane, dark grey eyes, and a scar on his chin. "This is Dirt Buster, the owner of Firefly Farms. He's the pony I was hauling cargo for when I was attacked."


"The latter statement is true, the first is not. Please scroll to the next image." She waited a moment for Astral to do so. The next image was also of a brown earth pony with a lighter mane, but the colors were slightly different. His eyes were blue, and he lacked the scar seen in the first. "This is Dirt Buster. I have been told the two look similar."


"They do." Astral dropped the screen on the table. "They look like brothers."


Silver shook her head. "They are not. The pony in the first image is known as Eckrt. He is a black market dealer from Curraxa, and was involved with a high stakes auction recently. One in which we bid on a specific item."


Astral sighed and leaned back. "I can probably guess how I got involved."


"The item we won was hidden in your cargo." She nodded to the Celestial. "She was sent to keep watch, and make sure that none of the other bidders caused us any trouble. Unfortunately, you entered the system a fair distance away from where we were expecting."


Astral cut in there. "When you say 'we' there, are you referring to yourself?"


She smiled slyly. "I believe you are asking if I am the one in charge here. I am not."


"Then, who is?" Astral eyed the Celestial. It better not be her.


"You will meet her soon enough." Silver leaned over to the purple pony beside her. "Did you bring it."


The response was a whispered, "it's outside."


"Please bring it in then." Silver 'looked' back at Astral as the other mare got up and left. "You know what happened during the attack, so I will skip explaining that. But you probably did not know that it was Eckrt himself that attacked your ship. We did not know it at the time, but he had a reputation for taking back the items he sold."


Astral sighed. "Sounds like he worked alone, so I shouldn't have to worry about anypony looking for revenge. That still leaves the old mare who paid my medical bill. Do you know who she is?"


The Celestial had just reentered the room, and she was towing the box she had taken from the Philomena. She dropped it near the table and sat down with a huff. "I'll give you a hint," she said angrily, "she's not that old."


Silver had started eating, and between mouthfuls, said, "technically, you are."


"So, you're Twilight Sparkle." Astral shook his head. "I'd thank you for paying my bill, but you caused my injuries in the first place."


"Me?" She snorted. "What about you? You were all, 'it's you or me', when I didn't do anything to you."


"Didn't do..." An incredulous laugh joined a mocking shrug. "Gee, that kinetic mine must have been somepony else then."


"I was just trying to get you out of the way! I would have gotten you back on the ship after the fighting was over."


"Oh, see! That would have been good to know. Maybe the telepathy you used after the fight could have been used to tell me that you weren't just trying to kill me."


As Twilight and Astral continued to argue, Mac leaned over and whispered to Silver. "Aren't ya gonna stop them?"


With a mouthful of noodles, she answered, "I don't care anymore."


Mac sighed and watched them argue for a few moments. Then, he lifted a hoof to copy Silver's conflict resolution from earlier.


Twilight saw him, and turned away from her argument. She reached out her hooves, as if to grab the red pony's, even though he was on the other side of the table. "No!" Mac stopped, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Tables haven't gotten any stronger."


He put his hoof down. "Oh."


Twilight turned back to Astral. "And what is a Celestial? You keep calling me that, and I want to know what it is."


Silver swallowed her food and said, "It is how he and most others refer to alicorns these days."


"Alicorn?" Astral asked harshly. "Is that what your kind calls itself?"


"My kind?" Twilight looked over at Silver. "What is he talking about? And, how does he even know about Alicorns? You told me they've all been in hiding."


"I survived Serus!" Astral pushed past the table towards Twilight. "That's how I know about you."


Silver grabbed him with her magic and pulled him back. "Astral, she does not know about what happened to Serus. Aside from the things I have told her, she knows little beyond the last three years."


Twilight looked back and forth between the two unicorns. "Wait a minute, is Serus a planet or something? What does it have to do with alicorns?"


Silver shook her head. "Not 'is'... was. Serus was our home planet, mine and Astral's. It was destroyed twenty years ago, by an army calling itself the Celestials." She sighed softly. "That army was composed of false alicorns, much like yourself, and they laid waste to the planet's surface for three days. The planet was decimated, the army lost nine-tenths of their forces, and the general population suffered similar losses. On the fourth day, the survivors made a concentrated escape effort. The weapons we used against them, on my command, caused nearly as much damage to the planet as they did. But, it allowed us to escape." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Once the last civilian ship was clear of the planet, I gave the order to end the Celestial army before they could threaten the rest of the galaxy. All military personnel transferred to one ship, and we turned the rest of them into a bomb capable of wiping Serus from existence. Fourteen drive cores, and all our remaining nuclear warheads, all went off at once. The last thing I ever saw was Serus, as it disappeared in a flash of light."


Twilight was staring at Silver in absolute horror. "N-no... I can't believe that." She swallowed dryly. "Nocteryx is dead. And not even Nightmare Moon would-"


Silver held up a hoof, interrupting the shaken purple mare. "I'm sure the responsible party was not somepony you knew. None of the four would ever do something so terrible."


Astral was a bit shaken as well. He had always assumed that the Celestials had been the ones that dealt Serus' final blow. It made little difference though. As Silver said, if it's broken, being taken apart is no great loss. But there were other things she said that worried him. "What do you mean by 'false' Alicorn? And what are these names you mentioned? Nocteryx, Nightmare Moon, and the four? Are there more of these things out there?"


Tears in her eyes, Twilight slapped Astral across the face. "Those 'things' happen to be ponies!"


Mac grabbed Astral just as he was about to strike her back. "Listen to our side of the story, then decide if ya want to do that." Astral tore himself free from the large pony's grip, and Mac placed himself between the unicorn and Twilight. "Our planet died the same way. But the ponies doin' it were bein' controlled by a hateful fella by the name a' Nocteryx."


Since no one was eating, Silver moved the table out of the way. "I think I should explain a few things before you continue. Astral, a false alicorn is one that was once a regular pony, usually a unicorn or a Pegasus. True alicorns are very different, and as far as I know, only four exist."


Astral glanced at Twilight. "Then how are these false alicorns created?"


"There are different methods," Silver said. "A sufficiently powerful unicorn can modify themselves, permanently gaining the power of flight. Sometimes, genetic happenstance can allow a foal to be born with unicorn and Pegasus traits. The transformation can also be assisted by a true alicorn, in which case, the pony being transformed gains a portion of alicorn powers, such as the ability to survive in space for extended periods of time."


"Well, that explains present company." Astral snorted. "But what makes you think the army of Celestials was made of false alicorns?"


"A true alicorn wouldn't need an army." Twilight answered. "Without another alicorn to oppose them, one could simply cast the planet into its sun, or crash a moon into the surface."


Astral looked at Mac and Twilight. "Then what about your planet? It sounds like you had one of those true alicorns on your side. What happened?"


Twilight tapped Mac on the side to get him to move. "We had four of them, but their powers were tied up in keeping the planet alive. Our sun, moon, sky, and even the earth beneath our hooves were being maintained and controlled. Our alicorns couldn't directly oppose Nocteryx, an Alicorn with full access to all his powers. But we had a trump card, a set of powerful artifacts. Nocteryx couldn't attack us on his own."


Astral was able to put the pieces together. "So he built an army."


Mac nodded. "An army made of innocent ponies."


"He gave us a few years warning that he would attack with the intent to destroy the planet," Twilight explained. "Everypony knew we couldn't stand against him, not with an army behind him. So, we gave up. We spent the time we had building ships to carry us to new planets. It wasn't easy, but we evacuated our entire population."


"Why didn't you ask another planet for help?" Astral gestured out the window. "With that much warning, Canterlot has enough ships to evacuate a planet, and the Galactic Assembly wouldn't just stand by either."


"There were no other planets." Twilight tapped the box she had brought with her. "You might recognize this. This came from one of our ships. And, we went through a lot of trouble to get our hooves on it."


Twilight rested her hoof on the boxes control panel and waited for it to emit a quiet beep. She hit a few other buttons, and it slowly opened on its own. Inside, there was a foam lined depression in the shape of a pony. But, it was too large for a normal sized pony.


Astral looked over at Mac. The red pony silently walked over and stood in front of the box. He was a perfect match for the foam outline.


"Whoa, wait." Astral stood up and walked around the box, inspecting it. "You're telling me that Mac was inside this thing?"


Twilight nodded. "It's a cryogenic storage chamber. It uses a combination of magical suspension and freezing temperatures to preserve a living entity within."


Mac walked over to the bed. "When ya saw these buildings last night, did they make ya think of anythin'?"


Astral watched in confusion as Mac pushed the bed away from the wall. "Yeah, I thought they looked like the frame of a ship."


Twilight closed the cryo-chamber and held it up against the wall. The cuts and depressions lined up with the corners of the chamber. "That's because they are."


Astral shook his head. "But these towers are a well-known landmark. They've been here for centuries, millennia even."


"Five thousand years, since the planet was first colonized." Twilight sighed sadly. "And our planet, Equestria, died a thousand years before that."

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