A man from a distant space age future arrives on Equestria. He makes first contact with its residents and explores this strange universe, while finding a way back home and dealing with the death of his friends.
A man from a distant space age future arrives in Equestria. He makes first contact with its residents and explores this strange universe, while finding a way back home and dealing with the death of his friends. -------------------------------------- The short description says it all, I think. Mind reading the rest of the description?
This was- I mean IS the first story I am working on. I never before wrote fanfiction. I probably would change this description sometime in the future. So there probably will be many screw-ups. Inspired by various Sci-fi adventure stories including: Star Trek (I guess its pretty obvious), Starship Troopers, FTL game, Mass effect and more.
and uh, what else is there. Originally written for /mlp/ Anon in Equestria stories. Therefore the viewpoint has that sort of 2nd person storytelling. Each chapters are not that LONG for now and...OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD LETS JUST READ IT ALREADY. Enjoy and feel free to make feedbacks and criticisms, I will take all that like a real man should. Whatever.
Well, not that we reached to a second earth or encountered alien races or something like that, but current FTL travel and technology allows things like: Exploring relatively closer systems, Mine resources in other inhabited planets, create dome shaped or underground colonies, building huge space stations and more.
You are Anon, you are a spacer kid. Meaning you were born in a space station or in a space ship.
You were born in a pretty small space station. In a system pretty far from Earth. Since childhood, you are used to seeing hallways, rooms, elevators and such. Not living on land or seeing actual landscapes.
You joined the space military. Why? Because you were bored out of your mind of all that setting. You wanted adventure and shit, like all those holo-cartoons you used to watch as a kid like the famous 'Lightspeed: Space Agent' show.
Well, the space military is mostly about accompanying explore ships and peacekeeping. Not what you really expected, but hey, more exciting than your home station.
Training? Well, it was pretty much what you expected. Getting shouted at by some meathead instructor for forgetting simple safety precautions and everything else, all those daily routines, training, etc.
However being a soldier in the space age means you need to learn technical stuff as well. Hey, you might be in a ship most of the time. If all the shit is on fire, you should know how to deal with it. You didn't really do that bad though. You were average in just about everything there.
After all that training, congratulations, you are now a Spaceman. What, Private? No, this is not some ancient earth military thing. First assignment? Well, you get to be in a patrol ship in a less populated system. Oh well, at least you get to spend time with your best friends. Yep, friends, these guys joined the same time you did. You went through all the training together and really got to know each other.
You and other 6 were pretty famous for being the trouble-making motley crew.
You are on board a patrol ship. You are supposed to patrol the area for possible threats like space pirates and smugglers.
Yeah, space piracy is a thing now.
Anyway, who cares? There is barely any activity in this system.
You and 3 of your friends are playing poker. Rest are just lazing around in the ship.
"Oh ho ho, fuck, your asses are fucking space dust now." You boast, its more of an empty bluff, you weren't that good at gambling.
"You fucking suck at mind-games anon." a girl with an interesting choice in hairstyle scoffs at you.
This is Debbie, or just Deb, the greatest pilot you have ever seen. She was so good she bested quite a number of piloting records while being a trainee. Her piloting skills were well-known, but its her reckless behavior and tough girl attitude that gets her into trouble. You and your friends often joked about her being a lesbian, because of her attitude and her hairstyle. A short colorful mohawk, the military doesn't really care about your hairstyle as long as you could fit in the helmets. She always strongly denied that she is lesbo however.
"What makes you think this isn't the killer hand I've been waiting for?" You ask.
"Oh, I dunno, maybe because I can see how many chips you have?." Says Deb while pointing at your small pile of chips.
"Y'all done or can we continue? Because I'm about to raise." Says a muscular man with a southern accent.
And this is Abraham, or Abe, toughest dude you have ever seen. He was born and raised on Earth, southern United States to be exact. Which is pretty fascinating to you, living on a planet, and on Earth no less. When you asked why he decided to leave Earth and join, he said he wanted to escape his family's crazy Earthist ideals.
Earthist? Its a word used for people who refuses to leave Earth and thinks space travel is bad because of some religious reasons or if they are just afraid space travel.
Anyway, he was really good at combat training. During basic CQC training sessions he knocked out several of his sparring partners, accidentally, or so he says.
Also, the most hardworking guy you have ever seen. You never saw him complain about anything, never bitching how tiring a workout is, and always doing them to test himself. Well, that does not mean we has good at tech stuff, but he tried hard.
You quickly turn your head.
"Something wrong? Didn't ya say something about (Ahem) killer hand?" Abe mockingly clears his throat while saying that word.
Well, shit. Note to yourself, you should read a something like "Bluffing 101"
"I raise this much." Abe shoves a handful of his chips
"Wow."
"Ah shit." Deb lightly hits the table.
"HAH, the oldest trick in the galaxy? I never thought you would." A man with a curly hair and a funny looking goatee responds.
This is Pierce.
Pierce, what could you say about this guy. Real clown, this one. Not in a bad way though, he always knew how to cheer the group up, no matter how tired as hell you guys were after a long exercise. Its like this guy never gets tired, always the optimistic kind. He got into a lot of trouble because he never could take anything seriously though.
No matter how crappy his jokes or pranks were, it always made everyone around him laugh.
"Call~ Abe, dude, you couldn't fool me last time. You can't fool me this time" says Pierce.
"Ah crap, fold. I wouldn't wipe my ass with these cards." Deb puts down her cards.
"What about you Anon? You ready with your 'killer hand?'" Deb says that with an exaggerated air quote.
"I was just improving our scanner systems, when I was just about done, this ship suddenly appears on it. Then the alarms kicked in." says a man with a interesting looking pair of glasses.
You see through the front window what looks like a small freighter ship approaching pretty close.
This is Trystan, by the way, the smartiest smartass of the group. This guy could have gone big in the science world, real damn BIG, but instead he wanted to really be a chief engineer on a military ship. Imagine his parent's surprise.
He once said something about an ancient as hell...what did they use to call it, oh right, television show about space ships and a character with a huge visor on his face or something. He is the one that usually got your group out of trouble. You and your friends passed a lot of the tech stuff thanks to him.
"How the hell did the scanner not detect that before? Is it using a stealth drive? But regular freighters like that aren't fit for such systems." says Trystan while operating the controls.
"I...don't think we're supposed to tamper with the ship's systems like that Trystan- Wait, Is that really a pirate ship? What do we do? Do we call for help?" a girl with a glimmering scrunchy on her hair panics.
Faith joined as military nurse and life support system specialist, that means she is also a botanist.
Why would space age need botanists, you ask? Where the hell would get oxygen from then? There is a limit to what artificial systems can produce.
You wouldn't think she would be the military type actually. A quiet and a bit squeamish type. She could have just gotten a job anywhere else with her skills, but she said she really wanted to meet aliens.
"Relax, Mon Amie, we're here. Or if you'd prefer 'I'm here'. A man with a fancy hair says that with a wink.
"Besides, I don't think that freighter is geared for anything devastating."
Raymond, the smooth talker and the guy with the most fancy hair.
He was also born and raised on Earth. In a huge European metropolis, something you really would want to see someday. You'd think he would be more of a clubber that likes to drink his way to death or care only about scoring chicks or something judging by his looks.
He really is a guy who likes to help people having trouble around him, men or women alike. He cares a lot about his younger siblings, he pretty much raised them, and he likes to keep contact with them often.
"Can we just probe the ship, just in case?" You ask Trystan.
"Yeah, hold on lemme just-"
Before he can finish you hear sounds that teleporters make.
You and your friends focus on that spot. Two people with laser rifles materialize in the middle of the cockpit. They look around in surprise, it seems they didn't expect so many people on the cockpit.
One of them points the rifle at you.
Before you can react-
ZAAP! ZAAP!
Both of the attackers fall on the floor.
You see Abe and Raymond holding their pistols behind them.
"Debbie!" Trystan calls Deb.
"I KNOW! I KNOW!"
Deb quickly jumps into the pilot seat and moves the ship away from the freighter. Trystan quickly jumpstarts the shield system.
The enemy ship starts firing their weapons, they must have realized their plan failed.
You use the comm system.
"Unidentified ship, you are firing upon a military vessel, you will- SHIT!"
Deb is clearly using some unorthodox evasive maneuvers.
"I don't think they want to exchange jokes, Anon! Lets rev this baby up!"
Pierce starts up the weapon systems and starts firing back. The plasma cannons hit the enemy's shield.
Its still a freighter model, it shouldn't have much firepower.
Your ship manages to get few more shots at them.
"Alright, keep on blasting those assholes, they will never get a clear shot." says Deb while piloting with her usual skills.
"Uh oh." Says Trystan.
"What?" You ask, Trystan never says something like 'Uh oh'.
"There is another ship approaching us fast, looks like those pirates were not alone."
"W...what kind of ship?" asks Faith while clutching one of the seats.
"Kind with big guns." Says Trystan.
"Deb, sweetheart we really should-" says Raymond while trying to not fall on the floor.
"Okay! All of you take a seat and hold on to your butts!" Deb operates the controls furiously.
You reach for a seat and fasten up. You know how reckless Debbie can be.
Deb speeds up and turns the ship away as fast as she can.
Now there are two pirate ships chasing you. Firing beams and plasma blasts.
Pierce fires back but the freighter's shield is pretty tough and the gunship is pretty fast. Debbie's skill is the only reason you are not dust right now.
"If anyone got a plan I wanna hear it! Trystan?" Abe asks.
"Just a sec, just a sec..." Trystan scrambles.
" Okay, I got one!" Trystan points the sensors.
"Yeah?"
"Head in to that interstellar cloud formation!"
"What? But-" asks Deb.
"Trust me, GO!"
The ship enters the cloud with the pirates following not far behind.
This interstellar cloud formation was why a research station was built in this system, to study it. However, no science probes could study it because of the unknown composition of the cloud that messes up the sensors.
"Okay, now speed down and try to hide. I'll turn off most of the lights." Trystan turns off most of the ship's lights, even inside the cockpit.
"Is hiding in this giant space fart a good idea?" Asks Pierce.
"The cloud should interfere with their sensors, but we..."
Trystan uses the sensor controls with an amazing speed.
"...know exactly where they are."
The sensor is still working; The sensor visuals show few static effects here and there.
"I'm impressed." Raymond whistles.
"I thought the researchers here couldn't do that?" Asks Faith, she isn't covering her eyes now.
"Hey, I did say I was improving our sensors right? I think it still needs some work though" Smiles Trystan.
"No, no, you outdid yourself again." Raymond relaxes on the seat.
Everyone breathes easy now. Except Faith, who is looking at the dead pirates from earlier.
"Oh right, sorry about that Faith. Anon, help me out with this would ya?" Abe gently taps your shoulder.
"Right, lets just put them on the next room for now. Oh and uh, nice shot back there guys." You thank Abe and Raymond.
"Don't mention it."
"Just buy me a drink later."
You two drag the bodies out of the cockpit.
"Okay, we can just wait them to give up their search, then we can exit the cloud." Says Trystan in a hushed voice.
"What? Dude, you know that we're clearly outgunned, right?" asks Pierce.
"Its too dangerous Anon!" Faith cries out.
"They're right, pretending to be 'Lightspeed the Space Agent' wont help anyone" says Raymond.
"Nononono, think about it guys, what happens after they forget about us? They will go straight for the research station. The station has minimal defenses and even if we call for help the damage will be done. You know these guys raid fast and leave fast."
You point at the sensor visuals.
"Thanks to Trystan, we have the strategic advantage. They cannot detect us, right?. Trys, can our guns take them down?"
"I think...yes, pirate gunships are geared for damage and speed, they have low defenses. I think we have a few shield penetrating missiles that can take down the freighter." Trystan quickly calculates the odds with the computer.
"See? We can do this, this is what we were trained to do. We can't just walk away." You say, you have never been so determined before.
Your friends exchange looks, but they soon agree with you.
"Well, Anon is right." Says Abe. "We must stop them here and now before they do any more damage."
"Eh, I was never known to run away from fights" Deb smiles.
"You're right, we can't let them hurt innocent people." Faith agrees.
"Come on, I don't think we got much time." You look at Trystan.
"Okay, Debbie, approach them slowly. And Pierce? Ready the plasma cannons and someone control the missiles. We attack at the same time." Trystan always knew what he was doing.
"I was born ready, baby." Pierce stretches his fingers.
"I got the missile controls!" Raymond turns on the weapons.
The ship approaches the pirates. Waiting for them to be within the weapon's range.
"We will use the sensors to lock down on the targets. I really hope the improvements are good enough for this." Trystan says this while furiously operating the controls, few static effects appear on the sensor viewer.
Everyone is holding their breath.
When the weapons lock on-
"NOW!" Shouts Trystan.
Two missiles rush towards the freighter and plasma blasts head towards the gunship.
The missiles meet their target and so does the cannons. The pirate freighter explodes.
You all let out a short cheer but turn back as something odd is happening.
Its like something in the space cloud doesn't like having things exploding inside of it. Some kind of electric discharge and unknown force is appearing near the explosion.
You realize something is wrong and open your mouth to say something.
This unknown force hits your ship. It all happens in a split second. Some kind of strong electric charge rushes inside the cockpit.
It hits everyone inside.
Everything goes white before your eyes.
You wake up.
What? Where- then you slowly remember.
Jesus fucking what, what the hell was that, what the fucking hell?
You notice you are on the floor, you try to stand up but its hard for some reason, this head pain is murder.
"Guys? You alright? Guys?"
You see that the cockpit is empty, there are uniforms and stuff on the floor, what the hell.
"Computer, locate the crew."
'The rest of the crew are no longer on board'
What.
"Computer, I said locate the crew."
'You are the only person on board.'
"What? That is impossible I-."
You look around, there are uniforms of your friends on the floor and things like their glasses, family photo, a scrunchy...and you notice that there are piles of dust or ashes on the floor almost shaped like a human.
Realization hits like a hovertruck.
NO, no no no no this is not fucking happening this must be a mistake.
Then you suddenly feel sick, you puke all over the control panel for minutes.
After a while you notice there is light coming through the window. Light source? like what, artificial one or an actual sun?
Where the hell are you supposed to be?
You take a peek outside.
You see trees and what looks like sunlight. Did you arrive at some dome colony or something?
"Computer, where are we located?"
No response.
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE YOU PIECE OF SHIT?"
'Unknown'
Hell with this, either way it seems you arrived somewhere with atmosphere. You need fucking help.
You stagger your way out of the cockpit and in front the airlock.
You punch the controls and the sealed door makes noises and starts to open. Yes, that confirms you can breathe out here.
You head outside, the weather seems... nice? You don't see a dome shaped sky above you.
What the, are you on Earth or something? Its just too fucking confusing.
You see what looks like a town not so far away.
Finally, you can get some help.
Then your legs give out, you hit the dirt. You are about to faint. You can see silhouettes approaching you, dogs, maybe?
You feel someone is tapping your forehead, ow ow ow.
"um..I think you're hurting him Pinkie."
"How do you know its a 'He'?"
"Did anypony hear it say 'Get help'?"
What.
"What in tarnation is that huge thing it came out of? Twilight?"
"Its....it looks like some kind of a machine? I never read or seen anything like it."
What the hell, either you are still pretty headfucked right now or they are.
You sit up.
Surprised sounds everywhere
"Goddamn it, what is wrong with you people? I said get help not treat me like a goddamn circus monkey, CHRIST!" You shout while massaging your eyes, the pain is still there.
"Can someone please get a doctor or something? and a glass of water?"
"I thiiiiink we made it angry."
"I think you made it angry, Pinkie."
"and why the hell are you keep calling me it..."
You look around.
You see bunch of colorful animals on 4 legs.
You look at them for a while in silence, so do they.
They all have different colored skin- no wait, different colored coats. Stylized...hair?
One of them even has a rainbow patterned hair.
These animals have horse like features, you never saw a real life horse, but you did see them in holograms. Not quite like the horses you saw though.
Too small to be horses, ponies maybe?
Wait these things couldn't be the ones that talked right?
But you don't see anyone else around.
The pink one suddenly jumps in excitement.
"OH OH, a staring contest! Me first!"
"WHOASHIT!" You back up a little.
IT FUCKING TALKED THAT HORSE THING TALKED
You reach for your pistol.
Oh wait, you didn't bring one.
The yellow one squeaks and hides behind the blue one.
"HEY! Watch your mouth, you....you...thing!"
"Hold on, Rainbow Dash, I think its just frightened."
The purple one approaches you slowly.
You see that it has a horn.
What?
And a pair of wings.
Que?
"Hello? Dont be afraid, we wont hurt you. Are you alright?"
Nani?
"You horses are talking." You say that in disbelief.
"We're actually 'ponies' stranger." says the orange one.
This one even has a cowboy hat on it.
"Heavens, I dont think he is alright, Twilight." says the white one, also with a horn.
You slowly stand up, you feel better but your legs are still shaking.
You smack your face hard.
Ow that hurts, bad move, not a dream or on drugs.
"What is it doing?"
"Maybe its his way of saying hello!" *SMACK
This shit is crazy. You need something to drink.
"I need water, please."
"Okay, I'll be right back."
The purple horse thing vanishes with a flash of light.
Teleporting? These things have technology?
The purple one reappears with a water bottle You don't care that it was hovering in the air, you grab it and drink it up
Okay that helped a lot.
You take a big breath and look at the horse animals.
Alright, time to face reality like a man.
"Where am I? Who are you? WHAT are you?
The purple one, who seems to be the leader of the group, replies.
"We are in the land of Equestria, this is the town of Ponyville.
It points its hooves towards the town
"My name is Twilight Sparkle, these are my friends."
"And we are ponies."
Huh.
Okay.
"So what about you? Where did you come from? And what is that?" asks the Purple horse thing named Twilight Sparkle.
"Er, my name is Anon and I am a Human or Homo Sapiens from a planet called Earth." You just say that without thinking too hard.
"Oh and that?" You point the ship.
"That is a what we call a space ship, its what we use to travel through outer space."
"Unbelievable." says Twilight.
"Wee! A real living alien monster from outer space!"
The pink one with a fluffy mane hops energetically around you.
It jumps on your back and starts poking and examining your head.
"Stahp, hey, what?" You just cant keep up with this thing.
"Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie! Did you say you were a HOMO? Are you like a lizard thing? EEP, do you eat ponies? This pink horse thing named Pinkie Pie asks while poking you.
"Im not a homo- I mean, nevermind please get off me I don't feel too good now."
"Okie dokie Homie!"
Pinkie jumps off your shoulders.
"I think he said 'Hyoo-man', darling." says the white pony with a stylish mane and tail.
How do they even do that with tails?
"Oh, hello Mr.Anon, was it? You can call me Rarity." Says the more elegant looking white pony called Rarity.
"Uh, hello Ms Rarity." You are surprised by the sudden elegance in speech.
"Oh just 'Rarity' would do."
"Sure, Rarity, you can just call me Anon too." You scratch your head.
Seeing that you are not an immediate threat. Other ponies ease up as well.
The blue one with a rainbow mane and tail flies around with its wings you to examine you.
Flying? Wings? You know what, you don't care anymore.
It still looks at you with suspicion.
"You really don't eat or attack ponies, right?"
"No, we don't." Are you really that monstrous to them?
"And did you say that ship can travel through outer space? Can it fly?
"Yes, real fast too."
"Wow, really? But its so big! Maybe I can race against it?"
"Maybe, if its not too damaged." This thing really wants to race against a space ship that can go past the speed of sound in moments?
"Awesome, my name is Rainbow Dash by the way, nice to meet you!" The blue pony named Rainbow Dash waves its hooves.
Rainbow Dash? These names, man.
"Name is Applejack, partner, and I really hope that ship of yours didn't do anything to the apple trees."
"Apple trees?"
You see what looks like a farm not too far from where you are. Never seen a farm like that before. You only saw small dome greenhouses in your home station.
Wow, its bigger and greener than your thought.
"No, these recent models are almost completely emission free. People used to complain about feeling sick after long flights or staying in docks for too long."
The orange and blonde pony tilts her head in confusion.
"I don't think I understood that, but I will take that as 'No, it didn't'."
Applejack? These names again, and she has this accent. You swear your heard them before.
Then there was this pony with yellow coat and pink mane.
It has also wings like Rainbow Dash, and there is a rabbit sitting on her head. She still is keeping a slight distance from you.
"I think its okay Fluttershy, he wont bite." Dash calls the yellow pony.
"Oh..um..okay..hello, my name is Fluttershy and this is Angel bunny." She holds the rabbit towards you.
This rabbit looks as if its got a beef with you.
Fluttershy? Its like the description is in the name.
"Are you like a monkey? You have paws that looks a monkey's paw." Fluttershy asks while pointing her hooves at your hand.
"Oh, well sort of, monkeys and Humans share the same ancestors."
Anyone who says differently is a retard that does not belong in the space age of humanity.
"How fascinating...." Says Fluttershy.
"Do you know what we need, Anon?" Pinkie suddenly gets real close to your face.
Did this pony ever learn anything about personal space?
Pinkie starts jumping in front of you. Wow, its like she never gets tired.
"Need what Pinkie?" You ask.
"A Party, you silly billy! We should have a party of 'Being friends with a real alien!'"
You chuckle. Friends huh, oh that remind you of something.
"Sorry, but maybe later Pinkie."
"Awwwww, why not now?"
"There is something I must do." You look at the ship.
'May they rest in peace knowing they finally arrived on an alien planet.'
You make sure that would stay permanent.
You stand up, and give them a proper military salute.
You gathered the ashes of your friends in the ship's cockpit and put them in an urn.
You noticed that there were also the ashes of the space pirates in the next room. Fuck them, you let a cleaner droid take care of them.
You gently folded up their uniforms, gathered their name tags and placed them in their bed lockers. Something for their families.
You gave your friends a small funeral for now. You walk towards the ponies after you are done.
"I'm sorry Anon, were they your friends?" asks Twilight.
"Yeah, my best friends."
Silence falls.
"Huh, we always joked about arriving on an alien world and things like that." you clench your fists. "But not like this."
You try your best to keep the tears inside. You fail.
You wipe your eyes and talk to the ponies.
"Can you show me this place?"
You and the 6 ponies walk towards Ponyville, or fly or jump towards it.
Ponyville? These names again.
Twilight tells you that about 2 hours ago when the town's ponies were starting their day as usual, thunderous noises and bizarre phenomenons started appearing.
Near Applejack's family farm, 'Sweet Apple Acres'. No wonder Applejack was worried.
When Twilight and the others came to investigate, your ship was there and you came out of it.
As you get closer to this little town you see all these colorful old fashioned houses that you would only see in documentaries.
Then you notice a crowd of ponies gathered at the entrance. As you get closer, they seemed either confused or scared.
Well, anything would be scared if something really came out of that giant mess.
Come to think of it these pony things are cute.
They are like living, talking, plushies.
They seem pretty hospitable too.
How the fucking hell did these things come out of the evolutionary tree? Charles Darwin can't explain this shit.
Oh and the fact you are speaking the same language? Some kind of translator device you have back home? That works on different species, right.
Oh well you probably should do the scientific thinking later. Your head still hurts.
"Anon, maybe its a good idea if we talked to them first." says Twilight before getting any closer.
"Agreed, I don't want to scare them."
First impressions, always important. Especially on first contacts between alien species, you think.
"Princess Twilight, is that another monster?"
"Is it really safe to bring it here? What if it tries to eat us?"
"Did it really come from those loud explosions?"
"Its like he has almost no fur on its skin!"
So much for that impressions thing.
Twilight motions her hooves to calm the ponies down.
"Everypony, please, do not worry. This is not a monster, he's name is Anon. He says he is a Human, an alien from outer space."
The word 'alien' seems to interest them. Chatter, chatter, chatter.
"Yes, he arrived after those phenomenons. He is not feeling well and asked for our help, we can't ignore somepo- or anything that requires our help."
"But how and why did it come to Equestria?"
Twilight looks at you.
"I didn't intend to come to Equestria, actually." you say.
"Hey, he can talk!" "It does sound like a HE."
"To be honest, I don't know how my ship arrived here. There was a huge accident and next thing I know, I'm here."
Pretty vague, but that is pretty much it.
"I assure you, I didn't come here to cause trouble. I would just like to find my way back home."
More ponies talking to each other.
"I'm sure you have more questions, but Anon needs some help, you can resume your daily activities." Twilight tries to calm the ponies down.
The crowd of ponies make way for Twilight and rest of the group. That ended pretty well. This horned pony with wings really knows what she is doing.
Did one of them say 'Princess'?
"Are you feeling sick Anon?" asks Fluttershy.
"I still have a headache and my body feels weaker." you massage your head.
"Oh my, we should take a look at you, but I've never dealt with an alien before." says Fluttershy.
"Don't worry too much about it Fluttershy, I'm tougher than I look."
You notice that you're hungry; you puked your guts out back in the ship.
"I'm pretty hungry. Do you have something to eat?"
"What do humans eat, Anon?" asks Twilight.
"We humans are omnivores, like many mammals and primates."
"You mean you hunt and eat animals?" Twilight seems a little surprised.
Huh, ponies must be herbivores, like real horses.
"Uh, yes and no, we...eat only certain animals but we don't actively hunt them. As I said we also eat fruits and vegetables. Some humans like fishing though."
"Oh like bears and otters? Fluttershy asks.
"Yes, exactly."
You arrive at this large crystalline structure that looks like a castle.
It certainly stands out from the rest of the buildings. Did some pony actually designed that with that purpose?
Damn, the interior is more imposing. The whole crystal theme is there with gold decors and tinted glasses and more. You must be really in fairy tale land.
"Enjoying the tour, Anon?" says Rarity when she notices you looking around.
"We certainly don't have things like this back home."
The ponies lead you to a fancy room with a round table.
Pinkie pushes you to sit down. The chair is small and the table is low but you cant complain.
The ponies tell you they will get some food ready for you. They tell you to relax and they split into groups.
Easier said than done, you feel out of place here.
After few minutes you realize there is something peeking its head by the door.
"Hello?"
It hides when you call it, then it shows himself and walks towards you.
It is sort of a bipedal reptile.
You thought you saw everything. Is this one of their pets?
It has a big head with short arms and legs.
Awwww, isn't he adorable.
"Hi, my name is Spike. Twilight told me you are an alien, is that true?"
Aaaand he talks, you shouldn't be surprised anymore.
"Yes you can say that, and you are a..."
"I am a dragon!" Spike points himself.
"Neat."
You and Spike briefly talk about some of the details before the ponies arrive with bags of goods.
"We weren't sure about hoo-man diet, so we got bunch of different stuff!" says Applejack proudly.
Applejack comes with fresh produce, mostly apples. This is amazing, the freshness is off the charts.
Dash and Rarity comes with...a burger and a sandwich? It says "Oat burgers", that's new.
The sandwich has flowers and stuff in it, you smile and thank Rarity, but tell her humans don't eat flowers.
Pinkie and Twilight comes back with a box of desserts, like pies and cupcakes. Pinkie says they are some extra ones she baked herself.
Fluttershy comes with a small bucket of fish, some of them still flopping inside.
"Please, help yourself." Fluttershy gives you the bucket.
You smile like an idiot, you haven't eaten something like this for a while.
"Dont mind if I do! Oh and Fluttershy, we humans cook our fish. Well, most do, so can I keep the bucket of fish?"
You start eating.
The oat burgers weren't too bad. The apples, carrots and grapes taste amazing.
Pinkie's desserts, oh man, you could get addicted to them.
You start to wonder, how can aliens be so welcoming after you just crashed into your town?
Hell, most humans might go all torches and pitchforks. Instead, they invite you into their home and give you a meal.
You start to think that you will like this planet.
"Can we ask you more questions Anon?" asks Twilight.
You lower your mug.
"Of course, what about?"
"Can you tell us more about your species and where you came from?"
"Yeah, I would love to."
You think for a moment.
"Lets see, we humans live about 100 years thanks to modern medicine, our scientific name is 'Homo-Sapiens' oh I guess I covered that, and we are currently a spacefaring race."
"Yes, the fact your species can travel through space, can you be a little specific?" Twilight really wants to know.
"This might take a while....."
You explain that your species' technology has advanced enough to leave the atmosphere of the planet with the use of space crafts. You tell them in the year of 1961, which was centuries before your time, a human named Yuri Gagarin traveled to outer space for the first time in human history.
Man, you are glad you didn't sleep during your history classes.
You explain that even though this technology developed over the years, it didn't allow humans reach beyond their own solar system.
Then you explain the invention of FTL travel technology, and how it sparked a new space age for humans.
You also explain some of humanity's famed technological achievements like enormous dome colonies that can emulate Earth's atmosphere, gigantic space cruisers, etc.
You tell them that even now the human race is constantly exploring space, or as humans like to call it 'The Final Frontier'.
Twilight seems really fascinated about all this. Other ponies just seem confused, Dash is about to fall asleep, Spike is already asleep.
"Well, that is pretty much it." You take another sip from your mug. Man, all that exposition makes you thirsty.
"Oh, and I was born on one of those space stations I talked about. Never been to Earth, I would really like to one day."
"Oh my, you never saw a sky above and a ground below you before?" asks Fluttershy.
"Well, if you count those dome shaped skies and artificial dirt grounds, yes I did."
Fluttershy tilts her head in confusion.
"I lived in a huge dome shaped colony located on a different planet for a while. Its where I received my military training."
"Military? Are you a guard?" Dash suddenly perks up her ears.
"What? Oh, well you can call it that. Human military is mostly about accompanying explorers and peacekeeping."
You empty the mug
"You also get to fight pirates and arrest criminals."
"Wow, pirate ships in outer space?" says Rainbow Dash with amazement.
"Wee! Pirates! YARRR LANDLUBBER GIVE US YE SPACE BOOTY, OR BE IT THE SPACE PLANKS FOR YE." Pinkie imitates a stereotypical pirate.
"Heh, nothing that interesting, unfortunately."
"I still don't get why you came you Ponyville. Didn't y'all say something about an accident?" asks Applejack.
"Yes that was true, I'm not sure how I got here, but I'll try to explain what I was doing before I got here."
So you explain in detail what happened before your arrival to Ponyville.
Pinkie and Dash listens enthusiastically now, the word 'pirate' must have triggered their attention.
You explain about the chase, the battle and the unknown force that brought you here and that probably killed your friends.
"...and here I am."
Twilight looks excited.
"This is just incredible! I...I am at loss of words! I think I need a write a letter to Canterlot. SPIKE! Wake up!
Twilight starts scrambling for things to write about with the tiny dragon carrying rolls of parchment in his arms.
"She does that." says Applejack while watching Twilight. "so what do you plan to do now, Anon?"
Hmmm
"I think I should first check the ship, I should check if its damaged or not."
"OOH, the space ship! Can we come with?" Pinkie puts her hoof up.
Hmm, its not like they can operate the controls or anything.
"Eh, sure why not."
You head inside the ship with the 5 ponies. Twilight said she will catch up if she can.
The ponies are marveled by the unseen interior design and devises. Rarity calls it: 'Avant-garde'. Pinkie jumps around and asks what each and everything is.
You arrive at the cockpit.
"Please dont touch anything here, and that means you, Pinkie."
Pinkie pulls her hooves from the controls.
You turn on the ship's computer. "Computer, do a tactical analysis of this ship."
"Who're you talkin-" asks Applejack.
The hologram interface lights up and boots up the program.
'Initiating system analysis, please wait.'
'Checking.....checking.....checking.'
'Analysis complete, minimal hull damage, energy level in acceptable parameters, no observable internal systems damage. Would you like a complete report?'
"No, but keep it saved."
'Saved in system report files.'
"What in Equestria was that?" Rarity asks.
"Its a computer software with an artificial intelligence." you explain.
"What?" Dash tilts her head.
"Well, its a very very advanced machine that can help humans in our daily lives and can think in some way."
"Are you saying that machine is alive?' Rarity asks.
"No, its just programmed to sound that way."
Confused looks everywhere.
"Computer, open stellar navigation and show our approximate location."
The computer makes a few sounds.
'Error: Unable to pinpoint location.'
You frown. "Specify reason."
'Possible unknown damage to the navigation system or current location being part of an uncharted system.'
"Uncharted system?"
'If attempting to enter an uncharted system, please consult a-'
"Off."
You slouch on the seat.
"Anon? Is everything okay?" asks Fluttershy.
It doesn't make sense, even if you did arrive on an previously unvisited system. If it wasn't TOO far away from explored systems, long range stellar cartography database would have made sure the ship would get an approximate location based on the star configurations. Did you arrive at a system so damn far that it couldn't be observed?
Wait a sec, it hits you. For a while, you were overwhelmed by the fact you arrived at an alien world with talking horse like animals, death of your friends, and getting a warm welcome with great food.
You didn't consider some of the other weird things about this place, completely similar to Earth atmosphere? all these references to animals on Earth? A rabbit? Plant life that looks exactly like ones on Earth? The food? Pinkie's desserts?
What in the name of Stephen Hawking's immobile left ass cheek is going on?
"Pinkie to Anooooon, HELLO?"
You come back to Equestria thanks to Pinkie.
Pinkie's face is dangerously close to yours.
"Jesus Christ." you say.
"Whats that?"
"Are you feeling sick again, Anon?" asks Rarity.
"No, I just had a lot to think about. Its like my brain is in an another dimension."
Wait a minute, really?
"I might be an alien to this place in a different way."
"You can't be more alien than you are now silly!" Pinkie giggles.
"You dont understand...."
You briefly explain your limited knowledge of the Multiverse theory, how its possible that there are multiple universes that exist along unknown number of others.
"...and this universe and mine might just be one of those infinite-"
"Okay, can we stop with the supernerd stuff for today? I can't get any sleepier right now" says Dash in a bored manner.
"Alright, the point is: I'm not from a different planet, I'm from an entirely different reality."
"Blech, CAN WE JUST SEE THIS THING FLY?" says Dash.
You sigh, no point on thinking about this any further for now.
"Haha, alright Rainbow, if you insist."
Well, its not like you're in an emergency or something.
How to go back? Well, you came here somehow in the first place, there should be a way back right?
"Hey mister computer! Can you make me a chocolate cake?" asks Pinkie.
'I'm sorry, please enter the appropriate commands.'
"Hey!"
You chuckle. "Haha, I'm afraid its not made for that Pinkie."
Lets see now, its been a while you piloted a ship like this, but it would be fine. Its like riding a bicycle, wait, not really.
"I should totally fly next to it!" says Dash while flying around the cockpit.
"Dash, how high can you fly?" you ask.
"Huh? At the same level of the clouds?"
"But have you ever flown far far above the clouds?"
"Uh, no."
"Stick around, I'll show you what its like."
Cheers and excitement all around. Except from Fluttershy. You assure Fluttershy that it will be completely safe and that the view will be amazing.
You sit on the pilot's seat and go over the procedures.
You didn't get constantly shouted at by some meathead wearing a shitty hat for forgetting some of them for nothing.
"Computer, set this general area as point of return. Plot auto-pilot to reach an altitude that shows popular near space scenery."
'Plotted, would you like to activate auto pilot now?'
"Only when I say so."
"By the way, do you ponies have other ways of flying?" you ask the ponies.
"Other ponies often use hot air balloons or get help from other pegasi." says Applejack.
Hot air balloons, cute.
"You will soon see the difference. We'll start out slow, okay Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy nods, she still must be nervous.
You help the ponies on the seats and their seat belts. Rainbow Dash complains but you tell her its for her safety.
The ship slowly lifts up and starts hovering.
The ship gains altitude a starts flying over Ponyville.
Now that you see that the ship is working perfectly and that you still can pilot this thing, you activate auto-pilot. You hear mixed reaction from ponies as they feel the gravitational force.
Pinkie is treating this like a rollercoaster ride. Fluttershy is covering her eyes.
"Here we are." you switch the ship to hover mode.
The ponies watch the from the front windows the scenery of near space altitude.
First thing they see is the border that shows the limit of the planet's atmosphere
"Is that black part outer space?" asks Rainbow Dash.
"Yes, WE are flying in midst the BOUNDARY of your planet's welcoming skies and the DARKNESS of the endless void beyond."
You say that in the most dramatic way possible.
Heh, that was fucking corny, but you really liked saying that part.
"Beautiful..." says Rarity with amazement.
"Check this out, computer, show us the view of the planet below."
You show them the view of the planet below through the viewers.
"That is Equestria?" Dash asks.
"Seen from far far above, told you its something you have never seen before."
"We are not falling...." says Fluttershy.
"Told you it was safe."
Wow, this must be how it feels to be a teacher leading kids on a school trip. Even Fluttershy is amazed by all this.
After about 10 minutes you decide to turn back to Ponyville.
You land the craft a near the town this time.
"Hope you enjoyed the flight!"
"WooHoo! AGAIN?" Pinkie jumps around.
"I shouldn't work the ship too hard for now, maybe some other time."
"Okie dokie! I really should get back to Sugarcube corner too!"
You exit the ship with the 5 ponies happily discussing their little school trip.
"Oh, I'm sure I need to tend to the animals, thank you Anon." says Fluttershy.
"That was an exquisite experience! But I really should get back to the boutique, see you later dear!" Rarity waves at you.
"It was one heck of a ride, Anon. My granny is probably looking for me, you know the way to the castle?" asks Applejack.
"Pretty hard to miss."
"We should race with the ship later, okay? Bye!" says Dash before zooming off.
The ponies head back to where they belong.
You probably should get things sorted out too.
The ship is awfully spacious and quiet with you being the only one inside.
You try not to get depressed, you wash your face and look in the mirror.
All of this is hard to keep up with.
You also start to think. Were the deaths of your friends your fault?
If you hadn't decided to play the goddamn hero, maybe none of this would have happened.
"Fuck me."
You need a beer.
You walk to the common area, reach the fridge, grab a can, drink up and-
You spit out the liquid like an cliched comedy act.
What the fuck, something is wrong with this beer.
You check the fridge, all of the leftover food is dust or ashes. You check one of the ration containers, yep, the same.
Its like every organic material, except you, disintegrated the moment you came here. You need to ask the ponies for food from now on.
You check the basic equipment locker room.
The ship you are on is a patrol ship, these days it means it also acts as a first responder for disasters. Its fitted for aiding than damage.
You have various tools for dealing with disasters. From basic fixing tools to advanced robotic arms. Nothing seems damaged here, fortunately.
Next, the weapons locker and the emergency med-bay.
This isn't a battleship, you don't exactly have an armory here. You have a few basic military gear and equipment, plasma assault rifles, beam pistols and energy batteries for the guns. That's about it.
You got enough batteries you think. You probably wont need guns in Equestria, just look at this place.
But your training tells you should at least pick up the pistol. Ignoring your training almost got you killed earlier today.
And the two laser rifles the pirates were carrying, modified laser tools, you stashed them there not too long ago. Weak but easier to make, can't even penetrate modern combat gear so it is used against soft targets. You guess you can't just dump them in Ponyville, some pony might get hurt.
Emergency med-bay, where Faith used to stay and work on her little botany projects. Her plants and projects were disintegrated as well. Real shame, you liked that bonsai tree.
Only other places you need to check are the crew quarters, emergency teleporter room, and the storage room. Crew quarters are as you left them, clean and empty, you clench your fist and move on. Teleporter room, used for mostly emergency evacuation, nothing wrong here.
Storage room, lets see here. A few Space suit containers, some extra rations(ashes now), big ass weapon cases, a small hovercycle.
Wait a sec, big ass weapon cases?
Oh right, the weapon cases your ship was supposed to deliver to a military base after your patrol was over. There was a bureaucratic incompetence and they were sent to the research station. You never really checked what was in there.
Curiosity killed the cat, but whatever. You swipe your identification and open it up.
HOLY SHIT, this is some destructive force of super-science here. You open up another one, dear god.
What retarded bureaucrat decided to send these things to a civilian station? You close them. Ponies wouldn't like to know how these things work.
You decide its a good idea to head to that castle. You also need to tell ponies you need food for a while. Maybe you should get a temporary job or something, you can't rely on their hospitality for too long.
Ponies stare at you as you walk among them, at least they don't seem to be afraid of you, much.
Some younger ponies follow you around at a distance, you feel like being a man inside a stupid animal costume working at a park. When you look at them, they scurry behind something to hide.
My god, these creatures are too cute to be real.
When you reach the castle gates, Twilight busts out of it.
"ANON, good timing! We must talk about certain things, please come in."
This should be good.
"I sent a letter to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about you, they didn't respond to me yet but they probably will soon."
"Princess Celestia? Luna?" you ask.
"Oh they are Princesses that look over Equestria. Well, we are supposed to look over together, I mean..."
Twilight suddenly mumbles.
Huh, the Princess thing earlier wasn't just a slip of the tongue.
"Am I in presence of royalty?
You try to do that ancient bowing thing you saw on a shitty holo-movie.
"Hmm how should I say this? Oh right, forgive my ill-manners before...your highness."
Really, monarchy? Interesting. You don't know if the concept itself still exists from where you come from, even on earth.
"Please don't do that, it still makes me uncomfortable, please just refer to me as Twilight." Twilight says that as if you are embarrassing her.
"As you wish, princess."
"Anyway, I think they would really want to hear more about your species, your world, and your science and magic!"
"Yeah, what do mean by 'magic'? I got the science part but 'magic'?." you ask.
Twilight looks at you as if she didn't understand that question.
"Are you saying....your planet doesn't have magic, Anon?"
"Of course not, magic, by definition is hocus-pocus nonsense." you say that in a matter-of-fact way.
Twilight looks at you confused for the first time.
"Oh and I realized not too long ago, I am not from this world- I mean, I am not from this universe." you add.
"What do you mean: 'not from this universe'?
You explain to her the conclusion you reached at the ship, and how you reached that conclusion.
"...this is something bigger discovering an alien world, Twilight."
"We do have similar theory, one from Star Swirl the Bearded, but it was purely theoretical."
"Till now." you say.
Silence.
"Did you mention something about magic earlier?" you break the silence.
"Yes, I understood your species' technology is advanced, but all that was possible without magic?" Twilight asks as if it that was impossible.
"Word 'magic' in our world also means impossible or fantastical, Twilight."
"I see." says Twilight, but she still looked confused.
"Why don't you explain to me your 'magic' to me inside the castle, Twilight?"
Twilight briefly explains that in everything in Equestria and beyond, magic has a part in it. Unicorns have better connection towards magic, and can use various spells.
She also explains the different pony types when you ask.
And finally the Cutie marks. The sort of branding (Twilight took some offense to that word) that pretty much gives ponies their strength and power.
"So, the teleportation you did earlier, and that hovering items thing, that was magic?"
Twilight nods
"Wow, this some really trippy stuff." you say.
"How do you think I feel about your world? This is a lot for me to handle too." Twilight puts her hoof on her head in confusion.
You chuckle. Its been a while you had a conversation that made you learn a lot.
Last time you did that it was with your friend, Trystan. That guy was also good at explaining to the layman the hard stuff, he could have been a great teacher.
"You remind me of someone." you say.
"Some-one?"
"Its a way humans address another."
"Who?"
"Well, it was my buddy named Trystan, not that you look like a male or something." You wink.
"He was incredibly intelligent, like you, and..."
You happily describe Trystan, the guy that probably increased your IQ level by 10 or 20.
"Is he one of your friends that..."
"Yes, he died the moment he came here, he really would have liked to study this place." You sigh deeply.
"I'm sorry."
"Nah, its the fact that he was my friend is important, right?"
You hear a loud burping sound in the next room.
Spike comes in with a real fancy looking roll of parchment.
"Twilight, its here!" says the tiny dragon.
"Princess Celestia's reply! Let me see it."
Twilight quickly scans the message
"Anon, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna says they are really interested to hear more about you, even meet you."
"I should be honored then." you really must be something if you suddenly grabbed the attention of the big man, well, 'big mare'.
"But there was a little warning in the letter." says Twilight.
"That can't be good, did I do something?"
"Nothing like that, there was a report of an another phenomenon, occurred not long before you arrived."
You sit up straight. "Someone else came from my universe?"
"No reports of anything like that so far."
Wait a minute, maybe its-
"By the way Anon, did you need something in the castle?"
"Oh right yeah, uh, I..." you scratch you head.
"Well it seems all food that I had in the ship became ash and dust the moment I came here."
"That's terrible, do you need supplies?" asks Twilight.
Always the hospitable ones, aren't they? These ponies.
"Oh, I just can't ask for free food anymore, I really should help around the town or get a temporary job or something."
"Well, I'll ask around."
"Thank you, one more thing, I nearly forgot." you say. Actually you probably should have said this one first.
"Yes?"
"Its about me finding a way back home."
"Don't worry, I will try my best to help."
Heh, these ponies, you swear.
You crouch and go for a handshake.
Twilight just looks at your hand.
"Oh right, its a handshake, or is it a hoofshake to you ponies?"
"Oh, of course."
Twilight extends her hoof
You shake her hooves gently.
"Nice to you meet you Twilight Sparkle."
"Likewise."
"Well, that gets the little pleasantries out of the way." you scratch your cheeks awkwardly.
"Maybe I'll try to get some of the ponies to give you a job, but I dunno if they can trust you just yet."
You think for a minute.
"You know, I have an idea, can you ask the town ponies to gather when its darker?"
You finish your dinner of some of the leftover vegetables and fish that Fluttershy gave you.
You see that ponies are gathering slowly towards the town square.
Go time, this should work. You make sure you are prepared and head to the square.
"Whats this about Nonny?" Pinkie asks.
"I just want to show the town ponies something interesting and fun."
"Oooh, what is it?"
"You'll see in a moment." you say.
The ponies watch you as you set up a projector-droid.
"Whats that?" Twilight asks.
"You ever play with shadow puppets?"
"Still do!" says Pinkie.
"Lets just say its a very advanced version of that."
After the town ponies gathered, you start up the droid.
You command the droid. "Droid, start up project named: 'I need that damn model of that juggernaut crusier', maximum projection size."
Ponies are surprised as the droid floats, makes noises, and lights up
The droid projects a view of Earth and the moon.
Faith's gentle voice echoes through the town square.
'Hello visitors or hosts, we are humans, and we come in peace.'
"What was that?" "What a beautiful voice."
The view slowly shrinks into a detailed 3D model of the Solar system.
'We are sentient lifeforms from the Sol system. A system located In the Orion arm of the Milky way galaxy.'
The model of the solar system shrinks to the model of the milky way galaxy. Pointing the location of the solar system.
The ponies are mesmerized by the little school project.
This project was actually for a public contest. It had pretty good rewards, pretty good money. When scientists discovered what could possibly a second Earth, this contest was planned so that they can decide what would be the first message they will send to that planet, for a real first contact event.
Trystan was more interested with the advanced, floatable, rare, and expensive model of the Juggernaut Cruiser that is one of the rewards. He was the one who suggested it by saying that 'I need that damn model of that juggernaut cruiser!' Hence the joke name of the program.
Faith really wanted to make something like this, she always did. Rest of you did it for the money.
You all used your spare times to make it happen. Faith had the best ideas for it.
Well, it was mostly finished, it just needed some finishing touches. Like various translation programs Trystan was making.
The program shows various images and projections of Human lives, with Faith's voice narrating the whole thing.
The program is almost at its end. The final projection is that of your friends fooling around together.
'We understand if you cannot trust us, but know this: We still are sentient beings, there should be something in all of us that craves harmony.'
'This is Faith, signing off.'
'Oh my god, that was so embarrassing...'
You smile, this was a recording she made not too long ago.
The program ends.
The projector droid turns off the lights and returns to you.
You return to your ship. It must be close to midnight in this place.
After that little presentation, ponies eased up to you and became interested in you. Pinkie even managed to throw you a party, how she did it in such a short time, you will never know.
It was pretty fun, they have these pretty low alcoholic ciders which pretty much does nothing to you, but it works on them. When Twilight told the town you needed a job, many ponies wanted to hire you. Applejack decided to hire you first.
These pony things, you still don't know what kind of alternate universe mentality thing is going on with them. They seem to be sunshine and rainbows so far.
You pick up your personal device, of course there are only few things working, there is no connection here. However, there is something you can do.
You make a new file: 'Anon's voice log in Equestria'. You start recording.
"Spaceman Anon's log number 1, day 1 in Equestria."
You think for a second.
"This is Anon, believe it or not, I have arrived at a different universe. First impressions of this universe is that its both different and similar to our own."
You record what happened today in the space cloud, meeting with ponies, things about this world, gaining the trust of ponies and so on.
"This is Spaceman Anon, signing off for today."
You set the computer to wake you up 6 hours later and go to sleep.
In your dream you see the moment your ship was hit by the unknown force, this time it happens in slow motion. You see the way your friends disintegrate to ashes slowly.
You couldn't take it.
You wake up and shout out couple of fucks.
You check the time left till the alarm. One hour and a half, great. You don't want to sleep anymore, you get up and wash up.
You head outside and breathe the morning air a few times. You don't think you ever tasted such fresh air before.
The sun is about to come up. You start a light exercise to warm up, something you picked up from military training.
Sweet Apple Acres, isn't the name just too sweet. You arrive just as the roosters start to sound the beginning of the day. Maybe you were a bit too early, you check the place out for a bit.
Orchards of apples, a corn field, barns, and the family home. Its just so bizarre that its so...stereotypical? Not in a bad way, the place looks better than any greenhouse you saw.
"Anon? Is that you?" you hear a familiar voice.
You look up to see Applejack looking down from a window.
"I just can't sleep in new places. If I came too early, maybe I can just wait here."
"Don't worry Anon, why don't you have breakfast with us?" asks Applejack.
"Oh I really shouldn't."
"Shush, I won't hear it, please, come in. I'll open the door for ya." says Applejack before going back in her room.
You enter the Apple family house, man, it really is homely.
"I'll get breakfast ready with my brother, why don't you wait on the couch?"
"Of course, Thanks."
You sit on this real old fashioned couch....the seats are pretty hard.
After a while, you see a larger crimson male pony coming out of the kitchen, holding a bucket in his mouth. You probably saw him last night too.
"Oh, hi, you must be Applejack's brother?"
"Eeyup."
Eeyup, what?
After about a minute, he shortly introduces himself as Big Macintosh. Then goes back to the kitchen. A man of- a pony of few words, you see.
"Applebloom, breakfast is ready!" says Applejack.
Applebloom? Another member of the family? I guess the whole family's theme is related to Apples. Interesting. Shortly after, you can hear sounds of tiny hooves coming down the stairs.
A young female pony, or you should call her a filly? Comes down from the stairs. She has a large ribbon on her mane. She looks at you for a moment, then runs into the kitchen.
"Applejack! Applejack! There is that big ugly alien monster from yesterday at our house!" says the filly.
How cute.
Big and ugly? You look at your reflection in a mirror. Well, you think you did gain some weight. You were a little hurt by that ugly comment, though.
"Applebloom! Where are your manners? I told you he was coming to our home today, his name is Anon, now apologize to him!" Applejack scolds the filly.
"But sis..."
"Applebloom!"
"Okay..."
Applebloom comes towards you.
"I'm sorry I called you big and ugly Mr. Anon."
You smile. "No harm done, Applebloom."
You gently pet her head.
"Why don't we go and have breakfast?"
You go inside the kitchen with Applebloom. You see Applejack and Big Macintosh setting up the table. On the table you see amazing looking food, you also notice that most of them are apple related. Like apple pie and many others. It seems Applejack prepared more for you as well.
There is also a very elderly looking pony sitting at the table. When you sit at the table(still a bit small and short for you). She frowns at you for moment.
"Applejack? There is a large monkey wearing clothes at our table!"
You almost laugh because of that comment.
"No, granny Smith, this is Anon, remember?" says Applejack.
"Who?" asks granny Smith, while cupping her ears with her hoof.
"The alien that landed on Ponyville yesterday?"
Granny Smith grumbles and focuses on her food.
After breakfast, you, Applejack, and Big Mac head to the farm to start the day. The place is greener up closer, its amazing. Your work today is to help them with various things like: Picking the Apples, tending to other crops, fixing the barn, feed chickens and such.
Apparently, there were more things to do today for these two because demands for their produce rose these days.
You heard from Twilight about Earth pony strength and connection to nature, but these ponies seem surprisingly tough for their size. You see them carry and do a lot of things that would require machines to do back in your universe.
Maybe technology did soften humans a bit.
You do your best to help them but you still fall behind them, but Applejack tells you that extra hooves don't come easy.
You are sweating a lot, still its better than drills during your recruit days, feels more worthwhile. You guess this is something about doing honest work.
After a short lunch, you and Applejack decide to take a break. Applejack goes to get some water. Man, the wind in this place feels great.
You hear noises behind a bush.
"You know, if you want to spy on something, you could be less obvious about doing so." you say.
"He found us!" "Lets go!"
Three fillies come out and run towards you.
"Surrender, alien!" says the tiny pegasus.
"Yeah, we're the Cutie mark crusaders!" says Applebloom.
"Um...he is lot bigger up close." says the young unicorn.
You snicker, kids will be kids, despite what universe or species you belong to.
"Oh no, highway...ponies are you? What will I ever do?" you say.
"We're the cutie mark crusaders, alien fighters!" says the pegasus filly.
"I thought we were Ponyville defenders?" asks the unicorn filly.
"But that sounds boring!" says Applebloom.
"How did you know we were watching?" asks the pegasus.
"Because I saw you doing that all day? Because you three aren't really that quiet?"
You always preferred real old music, they have more feeling in them, unlike mostly computer generated music in the space age.
"Is that music?" asks Applebloom.
"But I don't see any disk players." says the unicorn.
You show the young fillies your personal devise, even show them some parts of holo-movies. They are amazed by it. The unicorn says she is Sweetie Belle, and the pegasus is Scootaloo. These names again.
"I hope you girls aren't disturbing poor Anon there." says Applejack.
"Its Applejack!" "We're weren't supposed to disturb Anon!" "Retreat!"
The fillies run away.
"Sorry about that, I told Applebloom not to disturb you." says Applejack while giving you a bottle of water.
"Nah, it was fun." you say.
"Cutie mark crusaders?" you ask.
"Its their little club they made so they could try to get their cutie marks." says Applejack.
Oh right those mark or something they get when ponies come to a certain age. you guess its kinda like puberty or something?
"What's left for today?" you ask.
"Deliveries, we have deliveries to make." Applejack shows you a list of names and places to deliver their produce.
Applejack and you carry all these goods to ponies all over town. The town ponies are more friendly towards you.
Applejack also seem to never tire, in fact, she enjoys working.
"You know, you remind me of my friend." you say that after putting down a bag full of corn.
"Who would that be?" asks Applejack.
"A guy named Abe, or Abraham."
"A guy?" asks Applejack.
"Not that you look like a guy, Applejack."
You tell Applejack about Abe, how he was a hard and honest working person, just like her. Not to mention the accent and the strength.
"This Abe fella really sounds like a nice human to hang out with."
"Yeah, he was." you say.
Silence.
Applejack is about to say something when you hear screams nearby.
Applejack and you quickly run to the place.
In the middle of the market, you see 5 big bipedal dogs, you wouldn't be surprised if they talked.
"Nun of ye come near, or these ponies geddit!" shouts the biggest of their group, certainly the leader.
Of course they talk.
Two of them are holding a unicorn and a pegasus with their paws, with the rest of the group stealing goods from the stalls. The ponies can't do anything because of the hostages.
Applejack goes near the dogs.
"Hey-"
"HEY!" you shout as you walk towards them.
The dogs focus their attention on you.
"Wut da shit are ye supposed to be?" asks their leader holding the pegasus.
"I could ask you the same thing, you fucking mutt." you already know that they wont like that word.
The dogs growl at you. The leader throws the pegasus on the ground at picks up his ridiculously oversized wooden club with two paws.
You quickly grab your beam pistol, lucky you decided to bring it with you this time. You turn off the safety and set the level to 2, or 'medium rare' as soldiers like to call it.
The big dog charges at you screaming while holding the club in the air. You aim and shoot the wooden club. The wooden club disintegrates in an instant.
The dog looks where his club was supposed to be, he also notices his paws are on fire, the dog howls and puts out the fire with a nearby barrel of water.
The rest of the group looks bewildered.
"Wut de fuck was that?" says the leader.
You turn the pistol to level to 5, or 'Well done' and fire at a nearby pony statue. There is a large hole where the statue's head was supposed to be.
"See that?" you say, aiming the pistol at the dogs again.
"If you don't wan't that to happen to you, I suggest you put that pony down, drop the things you are stealing, and leave." you threaten the dogs.
The dogs look at each other, not knowing what to do.
"I SAID, PUT THE PONY DOWN, DROP THE GOODS, AND RUN!" you fire another warning shot, this time near their feet, blasting a chunk of rock on the floor.
The dogs put the unicorn and the bags down and start running away.
The leader looks back at you.
"I'll get ye for this, I swear." he growls and runs away on all fours.
You holster the beam pistol.
You check up on the ponies they were holding hostage. They are coughing because the dogs were holding them by their necks.
"Are you alright?" you ask.
The ponies thank you, the ponies nearby start gathering. Also thanking you for stopping what they call 'Diamond dogs'. Seems too elegant name for such brutish creatures.
You return to Applejack.
"Anon, what in tarnation was that?" she asks.
"Oh well, I couldn't just stand there and-"
"You know that was not what I meant." interrupts Applejack.
"Oh, this..." you look at your weapon. "This is a weapon, its what we call a gun."
"And you carry that around the whole time?" she asks in astonishment.
"Its...its just that, when I ignored my training and decided not to carry one with me, I almost lost my life." you say that while scratching your neck.
Silence.
"What matters is that those ponies are safe." say Applejack.
"You're not mad or anything?" you ask.
"Of course I am, carrying that dangerous thing around, but you saved lives today Anon. I guess its forgiven." says Applejack.
"Just be careful with that thing." she says that while looking at the gun.
"Don't worry, I will." you assure Applejack.
"Uh, I guess I have to pay for the statue and the floor?" you ask. Already causing property damage, well done.
"Things like that happen more often that you think, it should be alright." says Applejack.
"So, lets continue, shall we?" says Applejack after lifting a bag.
"Whatever you say, boss."
Turns out you did need to carry a weapon, even in this universe. You guess trouble comes everywhere, but that was just minor rabble, you won't need anything big in this universe.
