A young man lost in the hilly embrace of a mountain sleeps the night away under a knot of tree roots. When he wakes he will find himself thrust into a strange new environment, the Everfree Forest. With only his pack and his experience as a Boy Scout to aid him, he must survive, make sense of his surroundings and with some luck, ultimately find his way home. What does one do after wandering beyond the edge of the map? And better yet...

What if you are not alone?

I have been reading fan fiction here for a while and wanted to give something back.
My first fiction ever so constructive criticism is welcome. Fair warning, it takes a while for me to write a chapter so expect gaps between updates.

[Hiatus notice: As of 10/1/2022 this fiction is on hiatus so I may focus on other projects and items, will resume at a later date.]

Rated teen for strong language

Awesome cover art by Carnelian. Seriously, the guy has major skills with how fast he drew this up.

and of course ALL CHARACTERS / REFERENCES BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. “MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC” IS OWNED BY HASBRO

NO PROFIT WAS MADE IN THE CREATION / DISTRIBUTION PLEASE DONT SUE ME OR ANY PARTY THAT DISTRIBUTES THIS WORK (unless they try to sell it, then by all means go nuts)

A letter sits upon a table where it had not just a moment before. A golden glow lifts it as it unfurls in front of the reader.

Let us see here, how to begin?

Well, I suppose the best way to do so is with introductions. I am Prometheus and while I was, as one might say, tied up for quite some time I noticed your world. I have to say it's quite interesting, but unfortunately stagnant as well. So Miss Celestia I, being the patron of progress that I am, have sent someone your way. He is not a creature native to your world, a species I personally have a great deal of interest in, they're ambitious little scamps. I am bestowing a gift upon him as I send him, one he will in time learn to master. It is my hopes he brings progress to your world, but as the past has proven on many an occasion the best intentions can at times have the worst effects. We'll just have to see how it goes won't we.

Sincerely,
Prometheus

Ha, not as smart as the bastard thinks he is. I managed to snag the paper from him. So "Miss Celestia" my name is Coal and apparently I'm supposed to stir up some dirt. I'll admit I know just as much as to what is going on as you do, but if he's the Prometheus I'm thinking of, things might be a little more complicated than he'd let us believe. Crap, he's coming back. Ummm... Why did I just waste time writing Ummm?

Winter is coming... I'm disappointed with myself if that's the best I can come up with.

A/N: This is based on the Koala patches of the indie game Starbound. The game has since seen a full release and things have changed. These changes will be nodded to, but otherwise do not appear in the story.

Princess Twilight Sparkle is given the honor of being the first pony on all of Equus to engage in interstellar travel. Her mission: to explore unknown space, discover new planets, find new life, boldly go where nopony has gone before, and report back her findings five years in the future.

Things go wrong during her flight, and she soon finds herself stranded above a planet many worlds away from her home, with no fuel and dwindling power. If she wants to survive, she has to gather resources from the planet below. She slowly starts to develop her survival skills, but along the way, she encounters a friend who can help.

Jack Thomas, a "human" from a planet called "Earth," happens to be exploring space as well, and he seems to have a head start in figuring out where exactly she's at. Together, the two of them set out to find a way to return Twilight to her home.

NOTICE: Gore will be minor, and will appear most prominently in later chapters.

09 June 2014: 100 likes, 8 dislikes! Thanks a bunch, you guys!
05 October 2014: Featured! Thanks, guys!
02 April 2015: Computer Science milsetone! 128 likes! That's 2 to the 7th, or 80 in hexadecimal! Only 127 more until I can say I have FF likes!