The sun setting gracefully over the orchard signaled the end of a very long very interesting day. Pa was overcome with hysterical relief when he learned about how I'd saved Granny Smith. I'd never seen a grown stallion cry so hard before. Granny eventually managed to calm him down but not before He apologized profusely for not safety-proofing the cellar for her. Applejack and Big Mac congratulated me for saving the day and complimented me on getting my cutie mark, even though they were understandably skeptical about my powers. Apple Bloom on the other hoof was quick to come to my defense, going into great detail about everything I did at school today. They just rolled their eyes at her.
After all that drama, I needed to lie down. There's only so much a five-year-old colt can take in one day. As I looked up at my bedroom ceiling my mind began to race back to everything that happened today. I was faster, stronger, and more perceptive than any colt my age ought to be and I was the first in my class to earn my cutie mark on top of that. It wasn't exactly what I thought I'd be when I grew up let alone at five years old. I wasn't that complicated of a kid to figure out. I played with my siblings and the other kids in town whenever I got a chance. Played most of the usual games other colts and fillies did, Tag, Hide and Seek, Catch those sorts of things. I always figured I'd get my cutie mark for something to do with apples and become a farmer like Pa. Now....well, to be honest, I didn't know what was going to happen now. I always felt different from my siblings since I was adopted, I didn't remember Ma very well. She died when I was still a foal. But the Apples already treated me as one of the family. I looked back at my cutie mark. A red shooting star emblazoned inside a diamond shield. It was about as far away from apple farming as you could imagine. A kid who didn't do what I could think they were destined to be an astronomer or an Equestranaut. But a colt who could probably outrun a train and rip a heavy cellar door off its hinges like me would be understandably confused.
"Apple Comet! Dinner's ready!" Applejack hollered from downstairs. Granny did promise me an extra-large piece of pie as thanks. Maybe this whole strange powers thing could wait a little longer.
Dinner was pretty average, for the most part, with an apple and hay casserole with carrots and peas and apple pie for dessert. Pa led the family in the blessing to Princess Celestia as usual and then we dug in. After a hectic day like today, it was a chance to return to a semblance of normalcy. CLANK!!! Patooie!! Until I bit the tines off my stainless steel fork. The entire room went quiet, everypony just looked at the stainless steel fork I'd bitten in half. Applejack finally broke the silence.
"So Apple Bloom... what did you say happened at school again today?"
"Oh, now Y'all believe me!" Apple Bloom replied with an eye roll and snark.
"Uh sorry?" I said sheepishly. So much for a normal family dinner.
"It's okay Ah'll git cha another fork," Granny Smith said as she got up from the table.
"Ma?" Pa said turning to face Granny. "A'h think it's time we show him."
"Show what Pa?" I asked puzzled.
He turned over to face me and said. "Ah'll show ya after dinner."
Night had fallen by the time dinner was finished. I'd managed to clean my plate without breaking any more forks although it took longer than usual since I had to be careful not to put too much strength into it. After the table was cleared and the dishes cleaned Pa led us out to the barn. I watched silently as he lifted the bar off the front door and slowly slid it open. His face looked weary as if expected this day to come for a long time. Finally, Pa slid the door aside and ushered us into the barn.
"A'h was hoping to wait till Y'all was a little older to show you this.” He said as he led us to his workshop in the back left corner of the barn. "But after what happened today... A'h, think y'all deserve to know the truth."
"The truth about what Pa?" I asked puzzled. Pa sighed as he reached for the light cord. With the room illuminated I could have a better view of the workshop. At first glance, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. Racks covered in tools lined the walls, the workbench was coated with a thin layer of sawdust, and a shelf filled with paint cans and brushes next to the door. The one thing that was the faded blue tarp lying on something in the back corner of the room.
"Ya know how some foals are found on doorsteps in baskets?" Pa said as he walked over to the tarp. "Well, yer Ma and A'h found ya inside this."
With a tug of his mouth, he pulled off the tarp revealing the last thing I ever expected to find in a barn. It was a long cylindrical-shaped object that honestly looked like somepony had stuck wings and fins on a silo. Three rocket engines stuck out of the back and a large hatch door lay shut in the center. Slowly I walked over to it, my eyes took in every detail. I ran my hoof along the surface, Despite having been covered in dirt at some point it felt smooth to the touch.
"What is it Pa?" I asked "Some kind of silo or something?"
He looked down at me and said. "Ah'm not much of a poet so Ah'll make this story quick. About five years ago during a big meteor shower, we had one stray off course and crash into the orchard.” As he told his story he reached over to a lever on the hatch. "When yer Ma and A'h went out to see what had landed, We found you inside this." With a click, the hatch on the silo opened. The inside looked like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. A small seat sat in the center with various panels and instrument displays surrounding it."
"T-This.....This can't be right, A-Are you t-trying to tell me I-I'm f-from outer space or something?" I stammered out. This couldn't be happening this had to be either a bad dream I was having or an elaborate prank. Pa just smiled at me and walked over to his workbench. He reached into one of the top drawers and took a small wooden box.
"Well Ah'm not jumping to any conclusions, but I think you'd better take a look at this." He said as he handed me the box. I opened the lid and my jaw dropped. Lying there was a silver chain and pendant of a comet inside of a shield. It was exactly like my cutie mark.
"Y'all were wearing that when we found you. Figured we'd hold onto it until you were ready to know the truth." Pa told me as he straightened his hat. "There's something else for ya too." Pa reached down and opened up a drawer on the bottom of the workbench. He pulled out a small thin cylinder-shaped crystal. "Ah've never been much for geology but A'h knew there was something special about this the moment A'h saw it. Could never figure out what it was though, Even took it to a friend of mine who owns a rock farm.
He said He'd never seen anything like it.” He handed it over to me. It felt strangely warm in my hoof almost as if it were alive. As if by my touch, lines of light began to dance across the surface of the crystal slowly coming together to form the shape of a comet's tail. Suddenly the comet flew from the surface of the jewel straight for me. I shielded my face with my foreleg as the comet erupted in a blinding flash of light.
As the light faded, I felt my vision slowly returning to me. As I looked around I realized I was no longer in the barn with Pa and the others. Instead, I was in a room I had never seen before. From what I could gather it appeared to be a living room of sorts but the style and the furniture were like nothing I'd ever seen before.
"Pa! Granny!? Mac!? Applejack!? Apple Bloom!? Is anypony here?" No answer, that wasn't good.
Okay, I just needed to calm down, I was alone in a strange house, and I didn't know how I'd gotten here or how to get home. "Wait a minute there was something I could do though. Nothing a little X-ray vision wouldn't fix. All I had to do was focus on the nearest door and....nothing happened.” Huh, that's strange. While I'd been seeing thru walls for at least a month it wasn't until today that I realized I was the one doing it. I quickly checked the walls and ceiling, nothing just a wall. I tried the floor the same thing, something was wrong. I took a look around the room and spotted a strange sculpture sitting on the glass table in the center of the room. Strangely the table didn't seem to make contact with the floor but rather floated a few inches off the floor. I picked up the sculpture and tried to pull it apart. Nothing, I tried harder pulling with more force this time but the sculpture stood firm. I gave it one last go using as much force as my five-year body could exert. But instead of pulling it apart as I'd done with the cellar door, the sculpture remained intact. In frustration, I threw it against the nearby window where it struck with a satisfying clunk but it wasn't even scratched. Whatever that was made of I couldn't break it. I decided it was best to put it back before someone found it this way. I went over to the window and was awestruck by what I saw. A massive Acadian city of towering marble and glass spires and gigantic skyways stretched out before me. Behind them, I could make out a range of jeweled mountains and lush green forests. And shining high above the sky was an enormous red sun many times the size of Celestia's. Wherever I was one thing was certain. I wasn't in Ponyville anymore.
"Hello is anypony here? Where am I?"
"You are on Kolton my son." A voice answered. I turned around to see two ponies a stallion and a mare standing behind me. The Stallion was an earth pony, His coat was platinum grey and his mane was a bright sheen of silver. He wore a strange blue and red costume with a red cape and a golden headband. Emblazoned on his chest was the symbol of a red and gold comet. The same symbol as my cutie mark. The Mare was also an earth pony. Her coat was snowy white and her mane was a deep dark blue. Her eyes were the same color as mine. She wore a long flowing blue dress with a vibrant golden cape that flowed behind and around her neck she wore the same pendant of a shooting star.
"W-Who are y-you?" I asked taking several steps back. I didn't know them and I didn't trust them.
"Greetings Kom-El, I am Loran." The Mare answered.
"And I am Jav-El." The Stallion said. "We are your parents."
And now my mind was completely blown.
"Y-Your my Parents? W-Where did you come from? How did I get here?"
"This was your Home Kom-El," Loran said as she gestured over to the window. "And this was Kolton, Our homeworld."
"Kom-El? Kolton?" I asked her puzzled "Look, I have no idea in Equestria what you're talking about! My name is Apple Comet! I live on a farm outside Ponyville on Planet Equus where I am probably still in bed and this is a crazy dream I'm having." I said as I bolted for the door to my right. I stopped in my tracks when I realized the door had no knob, no handle to speak of.
“I can assure you this is no dream you are having my son," Jav-El said as he placed his hoof on a panel next to the door. The opened effortlessly with a hiss revealing a kitchen like none I'd ever seen. From floor to ceiling, it was virtually spotless. Automated forelegs hung from the ceiling and sat on the counter. A revolving door refrigerator sat in the corner and a strange bubble top appliance that somewhat resembled a stove. From end to end the entire room looked like a cooking assembly line.
"A'h young master Kom-El. So good to finally see you at last." A strange golden machine levitated out from behind the counter. Its body resembled that of a metal pony that was missing its hind legs. Instead, its lower barrel seemed to float above the floor. Its forelegs were long and skinny Its head was devoid of any facial features save for a single glowing screen resembling a pair of swim goggles and a filter where its mouth should have been. "My you've certainly grown." It said a line dancing across its eyes as it spoke.
"AHHHHHHHH!" I immediately turned tail and ran for the door, only to crash face-first into Loran.
"I see you've met Kerax." Loran giggled as she helped me up off the floor. "Don't worry he doesn't bite."
" Quite right Lady Loran my design renders me incapable of any mastication whatsoever. I exist only to serve or at least I did. If any of this were real young master I would have been glad to have made something for you if you were hungry."
"What a minute. What do you mean if this was real?" I said. My suspicion was piqued, I wanted some answers and I wanted them right now.
"What Kerax is trying to say is that none of what you see here is real," Jav-El answered as he walked in. "Only a memory being played back into your mind."
"I'll just be going now." The robot said as the kitchen began to slowly fade away replaced by the vastness of space. I found myself overtaken by weightlessness, drifting past stars, comets, and meteors toward a glowing green planet.
"Everything you've seen here including your Mother, Kerax, and I was destroyed long ago in a great cataclysm." The planet began to glow brighter and brighter. Gigantic eruptions of bright green ash shot high into the clouds and enormous tremors shook the planet to its core. I held my hoof over my eyes as the planet's aura grew brighter and brighter until it finally exploded in a tremendous green nova! When the light faded only a bright green asteroid belt remained. My heart was pounding as if I'd just run a marathon and I felt my stomach sink like a stone. I wanted to keep telling myself this was all a crazy dream. Hell, I wanted to shout it from the roof of the barn at this point. But the rush of adrenaline flowing through me told me I was wide awake.
"We sent you to Equus in a rocket to save your life. As of this recording, you are the sole survivor of Kolton.” I felt my blood run cold as he said those last words. Slowly the remains of Kolton faded away. I was back in the living room again.
"From your activation of this recording Am I to assume correctly that your powers are beginning to manifest."
"H-How do you know about that?" I stammered.
"I'm a scientist son, it's my business to know things." He said with a grin. "Even though you were raised by Equestrians you are not one of them. Your Koltonian body allows you to absorb energy from a star. The light of Equus's yellow sun will grant you abilities more powerful than any Equestrian has ever had."
Loran knelt next to me and ran her hoof through my mane. "Listen to me Kom-El, promise us that you will never use your powers to harm. The road ahead for you will not be easy. There will be those who fear you, those who want to destroy you. But there will also be those who will come to believe in you."
"Wait who wants to destroy me? I haven't done anything wrong, I'm just a colt?" Before I could ask anymore Loran pulled me into a hug.
"Hush now my son.” She reassured me. “I understand this is all very sudden for you. But do not despair. We will be right here whenever you need us."
"How?" I asked her. "You're not real!" Loran smiled and released me, holding her hoof out as she stood up to reveal the memory crystal thing whatever she called it.
"Contained within this memory crystal are the collected memories of both your Father and me along with all of Kolton's knowledge, history, and culture." She spoke. "All you need to do is hold this crystal and clear your mind."
"Now go my son remember the heritage you carry and make us proud," Jav-El said as he slowly began to fade away.
"Remember that we love you with all our hearts," Loran said as she too began to disappear. I felt my head begin to spin as the house was engulfed in the same bright light from earlier.
"Apple Comet!!!” I heard a distorted voice call out. "Apple Comet?"
"Apppppllllleeeeecooooommmmmeeeeeeeeeeeettttttttt!!!!!!!!"
"It's hurting him Pa!"
"It's got him under some kinda spell?"
"Hush now he seems to be coming out of it."
The smell of fresh hay hit my nostrils as the light faded away from my vision. I looked around to see Apple Bloom's face look up at me with concern. I was back in the barn with the rocket, the crystal, and my family all looking at me like I'd fallen off a roof or something. "Uhh." My head felt like I'd been picked up and thrown by a tornado.
"Lil Big Brother, Are Y'all alright?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Stand back now give him some space." Pa's voice boomed. "Just relax now son, Y'all went into some kinda trance when you picked up that rock. Had us all mighty worried ya did.
"It's not true it can't be true. ." I said shaking my head furiously. "It's not true !! IT'S NOT TRUE!!!"
"Apple Comet calm down!" Applejack pleaded. “What's wrong? What isn't true?"
"I'M NOT A FREAK!!! I'M NOT SOME KIND OF ALIEN FREAK!!!!" I shouted at the top of my voice as I lashed my hoof out at the first thing I saw which I'm grateful to say was only a beam. With an explosive CRACK!!! The beam exploded into a shower of splinters. My heart raced as I drew my hoof back. The beam was obliterated only the very top which had anchored it to the loft was left lying on the floor next to my hoof.
The barn went silent. The Apples were understandably shocked. Pa's face was twisted in an expression of shock. Granny looked like she was going to have a heart attack, Applejack and Big Mac just stared with their jaws hanging halfway to the floor. Apple Bloom just stood there cowering behind her sister's hind legs, I drew my hoof back to examine the damage. There wasn't so much as a scratch on it. I'd just splintered a wooden beam with a single punch and I didn't feel any pain. I stood there looking down at my hoof work for what felt like an eternity until finally, Pa spoke up.
"It's alright son just calm down." The rest of the family stood behind him, looking at me with fearful eyes. Not that I couldn't blame them.
"S-STAY AWAY FROM M-ME!!! YOU'RE NOT SAFE NEAR ME!!! NOPONY IS!!!" Tears choked my words as they ran down my muzzle.
"Consarnit Mac !" Granny Smith shouted in between breaths. "A'h told ya leaving that...doodad in his hooves...was a bad idea!"
"Now now settle down Ma!" Pa replied raising his hooves in defense. "Getting all flustered about it ain't gonna make this situation any better." He placed his hoof on my shoulder. Without thinking I swatted it off and bolted through the barn doors quickly picking up top speed. In a split second, I ran past the front with such speed that my wake tore the gate off its hinges. I couldn't stay there anymore, I was a monster, an alien freak from some long-dead world. Every synapse in my brain was screaming to wake up from this nightmare. But even as I shut my eyes and shook my head frantically in an attempt to wake up. I could still feel the wind racing through my coat reminding me that this wasn't a dream. I opened my eyes just in time to see the river getting closer and closer. With a single leap, I not only cleared the river but I broke the world record for the highest jump by an Earth Pony by at least 200 feet.
"Whooooaaaaaaaa!!!!"
My entire body felt lighter than air, I looked behind me to see if I'd suddenly grown wings. After everything that's happened today, I wouldn't rule it out as impossible. What I wasn't expecting to see was my back still bare. My pupils shrunk when I looked down to see how far I'd jumped. I'd not only managed to clear the river but I was sailing over the treetops of the Everfree Forest. Suddenly I felt myself beginning to drop. I flailed my legs wildly in a desperate attempt to stay airborne but gravity wasn't having any of it. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I dropped like a stone. Tree branch after tree branch snapped under me as I crashed through the thick forest canopy before finally landing face-first in a puddle of mud.