//------------------------------// // First Contact // Story: Pastel Stars // by StrawberryGamer //------------------------------// The ship’s storage room was rather small, having been added as an afterthought by it’s designers. Therefore, the storage space it did have was rather limited. There was enough room for Astral to fit her Royal Guard-issued survival kit however. Hazy wasn’t going to question why she packed this stuff. Not yet, at least. Hazy dragged one of the sleeping bags out. She wanted to make sure Astral was comfortable first. After she got Astral into the sleeping bag, she went back into the storage room and grabbed another sleeping bag for herself. She set it down beside her friend. “Hmmm…” She tried to figure out a plan of action of how she was going to keep an eye on Astral and work on finding a way off the planet. “It wouldn’t feel right to just leave her here alone, but I gotta find help.” She sighed. “I might as well take a look outside.” Hazy grabbed her saddlebags and a flashlight out of the storage room and, after making sure it still worked, left the ship through one of its hull breaches. Even through the darkness of night and the cloudy sky pouring down rain, what she saw nearly took her breath away. A vast meadow spread out in front of her. Trees were scattered about, some in groups and some just on their own. Hazy shined her flashlight ahead, and noticed some strange quadrupedal creatures grazing close by. “Aw, they’re kinda cute…” She looked back towards the ship. “I’m sure it won’t hurt if I’m gone for a little while.” Hazy flexed her wings and winced. She was in no condition to fly just yet. “Looks like I’m walking.” She tucked the flashlight under a wing and started walking in the direction TAIL directed. One of the grazing creatures looked up at Hazy as she walked by, making a noise she could only describe as curious. Two others turned and looked at her as well. She gave them a friendly wave and walked on. A few minutes later, Hazy spotted a tall stone structure. Hope welled up in her, but it was dashed as she got closer. The structure looked very old, as it had plants growing up its walls and big gaping holes. It was still good shelter from the rain, though. As she entered through one of the holes, she spotted an old tent and what was obviously a campfire pit. “So someone else went camping here?” She mused aloud. By the looks of the tent, they couldn’t have left here more than a week ago. “They really should have cleaned up after themselves better. Who just leaves a tent lying around?” A growling from inside the tent snapped Hazy’s attention away from why the tent was there. A blue bear-like creature, at least as large as she was, lumbered out of the tent, its four eyes focused right on Hazy. It had a predatory look on its face that set off several alarm bells in her head. The creature lunged at her, intent on making the pegasus its next meal. Hazy responded by spinning around and giving it a solid buck in the face. She didn’t look back to see if it was stunned or not; she immediately spread open her wings and flew up to a higher floor, fighting through the pain that shot through her wings. Hazy looked down through a hole in the floor to see the bear looking back at her hungrily. She also noticed her flashlight behind it. “Great… Just what I needed…” Based on how her wings reacted to their sudden use, she was not flying out of there. She was stuck until the thing got bored or tired and left. Hazy decided to look around the second floor for anything she could use to escape. She’d be okay with loose stones to throw at it. It was a great surprise to the mare that there was a metal chest sitting on the floor then. “Well then, perhaps my luck is turning around.” She walked up to it and, to her surprise, it was unlocked. She quickly popped open the lid and peeked inside. The contents of the chest were a bunch of little yellow cubes about the size of bits, a bottle of alcohol with a rag on the lid, and a device that Hazy recognized as a pistol. Equestria was no stranger to guns. The Fetlock Pistol was invented about three centuries ago, after all. This gun, however, looked far more advanced than anything Equestria had to offer. Perhaps the Griffons or Minotaurs had something like this, as they tended to focus more on weapons research. It definitely looked like something a minotaur would have. The grip and trigger was definitely meant for hands, not hooves. She tried to check if it had ammunition, but couldn’t find any way to do so. She hoped it did have at least one shot in it so she could get rid of the predator below her. Hazy peeked down through the hole again. The bear was still there, waiting for her. She fumbled with the pistol for a bit, making sure she could actually pull the trigger with her hooftip. She then pointed the gun down the hole at the bear and pulled the trigger. It fired a bullet right at the unaware predator, giving it a nice little wound on its back. The recoil nearly knocked the gun out of her grip, but she got ahold of it again and fired once more. This one went right through its head, causing it to slump over, dead. Hazy breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, she just killed a wild animal, but it was trying to kill her first. That was just self-defense. It was better than dying. Or maybe that was just the shock talking. She shook her head and put the cubes and bottle from the chest into her bag, but held onto the gun. She’d probably still need it, in case there was anything else out here that was dangerous. She dropped back down and picked up the flashlight, trying all the while to not look at her kill. It still worked, thank Celestia. She was about to leave when she looked back at the tent again. Maybe whoever was here left some more supplies? The tent itself smelled pretty bad, most likely due to mildew and whatever that creature did to it during its stay. However, when Hazy actually peeked her head inside, it took all her willpower to not expunge the contents of her stomach right then and there. It was the most vile, nauseating, malodorous stench that Hazy had ever encountered. Well, it gave her an answer as to what happened to the previous owner of this tent. It also gave her a reason to not investigate the tent further. As luck would have it, she didn’t need to. The owner left their backpack behind the tent. Upon investigation, she found a box of matches, an odd metal block with a few corners seemingly shaved off, and a survival knife that probably did the shaving. She put them in her saddlebag and continued looking. There were also a few magazines and a small sack of those yellow cubes. “Okay, what are these things? Are they some kind of currency?” She asked herself. It made the most sense thus far. Seeing nothing left worth looting and not wanting anything else to do with that foul smelling tent and the now dead predator that occupied it, Hazy left the building. Good timing too, because the rain finally let up. She shook the water off of her coat and continued on her way. For the next hour or so, Hazy trekked through the meadow, finding similar stone structures, though luckily none of them housed any more predatory creatures or stinky tents. One of them did have another chest, where she found more cubes and some medical bandages. She put those in her bag and continued on. Of course, she also found more abandoned campsites. “I’m finding all these signs that others were here before me, but not one of them is here now. Where did they all go? ”It was disheartening, in a way. Fortunately for Hazy, none of them were occupied by any more blue bears. Though she did find all sorts of odd and interesting creatures. She made a mental note that if she ever managed to get off this planet and find her way back home, she’d eventually return with a camera. It was about then that she spotted a light in the distance. Hope welled up in her again as Hazy crested the hill. This time her hopes were rewarded. A larger campsite than any of the abandoned ones before sprawled out over a small, flat clearing overlooked by the entrance to an old mine. The campsite had a couple tents, several crates lying around, and a campfire surrounded by a few metal chairs. One of the tents was closed, meaning someone was probably sleeping in there. Hazy eagerly trotted down to inspect the site closer. One of the crates was open, so she peeked in there, then mentally chastised herself for peeking in someone else’s property. So instead, she took a seat by the fire. The heat comforted her as it dried her fur. She sighed contently. “This is nice.” Hazy looked over at the tent where the unknown alien was sleeping. Hopefully it’ll be friendly. “I think I’ll wait here until it wakes up…” She sat back and listened to comforting sounds of nature as she waited, letting out a yawn. “Maybe a few minutes rest wouldn’t hurt…” … Hazy opened her eyes slowly, the bright light of morning forcing them closed almost immediately. “Agh! Celestia, are you trying to blind me?” She groaned, then sat straight up, remembering the events of last night. “Wha? How long was I out?” She looked around the campsite. The tent that was closed before was wide open now. Her pistol was sitting on the grass beside her, along with the flashlight and her saddlebags. A quick look through her bags showed everything still there. “So...where is…?” A chuckle from the direction of the mine got her attention. “Looking for me?” Hazy turned and saw a bipedal figure, approximately twice her height. Judging by the voice, it was most likely male. He wore a brown coat, brown pants, and brown hiking boots. His face was a peachy color with a very flat snout and small brown eyes. He also had a short brown mane. Hazy had seen strange creatures in Equestria before, but this guy looked downright alien. Then again, he was an alien. “Um… Hi. I’m sorry for barging into your camp like this. I was wondering if you could help me.” She said meekly. The alien gave her a nod. “Well I can certainly try. By the way, my name’s Todd.” He paused. “By the way, I’ve never seen a species such as yourself. Care to tell me who you are?” “Oh right! My name’s Hazy. I’m a Pegasus.” Hazy held out a hoof. “Nice to meet you Todd.” Todd shook her hoof before doing a doubletake. “Wait, seriously? Your species is really called Pegasus? Like, ancient mythology flying horse pegasus?” Hazy tilted her head, confused. “I don’t know what you’re going on about. I’m the first pegasus to explore another world. I only wish it could have gone better…” Realization suddenly struck on Todd’s face. “Oh! You’re the rumbling I heard last night? Your ship crashed?” He asked. Hazy nodded. “Yeah. Well, half of it. We hit a wormhole and it dumped half the ship here. No idea where the other half is.” Her ears fell as she remembered Rusty was on that half, possibly lost to space forever. “Oh… Well were there any other survivors?” Todd asked. Hazy’s ears shot back up again as she remembered her other crewmate. “Oh right! Astral! I left her alone far longer than I should have. I need to get back and make sure she’s alright.” “Well you go do that. I’ll still be right here. Do you need any medical supplies? There are a few in my tent.” Todd gestured to his tent as he said that. Hazy shook her head. “No thanks. I’m good for now. I’ll try and find you again when I make sure Astral is alright.” She said, then turned to leave. “Hold on, don’t forget your stuff.” Todd reminded her. Hazy quickly turned around, put her bag back on, stuck the pistol in it, and galloped off. “Ohrightthanksgottagobye!” Todd watched her as she left. “Well, I think that went well. I better tell the ol’ bird. She’ll want to hear this.” He said, then went back into his tent. It took about another hour for her to make it back to the ship’s crash site, where she got a much better look at how trashed it was. The nose of the ship, where the bridge was, had been practically buried as it slid into the ground. There was a long trail of wrecked dirt to prove that it did slide after crashing. Scrap metal laid scattered behind the wreckage. And just as was said, there was no back half, the engines having been ripped off and sent to Celestia-knows-where. And Rusty along with them. Hazy thought somberly. Hazy entered the ship through the same hole that she left from. To her surprise, Astral was sitting upright. She turned to look at Hazy, a sigh of relief coming from her. “There you are. I was wondering where you went.” She gave Hazy a scanning glance. “You seem better off than I am. I suppose you were right when you said pegasi are better at recovering from crashes.” She joked, though her tone was more somber. Hazy trotted over to her friend and checked her bandages. There was a red stain where Hazy had discovered she was bleeding, so she decided to clean the wound and swap the bandages. Hopefully she wouldn’t need to do it again. “How are you feeling?” She asked. “A little light headed, sore all over. Tell me Doc, am I gonna live?” She asked, a bit more humor seeping into her voice this time, and Hazy couldn’t help but giggle in response. “Oh shush, you’ll be fine. In a few days or so. Just take it easy and don’t use any magic. You don’t want to lose your horn.” Hazy instructed. Astral sighed and laid back down. “We’re in one really big pickle jar, aren’t we?” Hazy sat beside her. “Not as big as you might think.” Before Astral could ask what she meant, she opened up her bags and pulled out the pistol. “I found this, and I’m sure you’d like to analyze it. It seems far more advanced than what we have.” “How so? It looks like an ordinary pistol.” Astral commented. “But it doesn’t have a magazine. It just materializes bullets out of thin air.” Astral raised an eyebrow and gazed at the pistol with more scrutiny. “Okay then, I’ll take a closer look at it when my horn recovers.” She looked past Hazy towards the still dark computer console. “Did we lose our TAIL?” Hazy shook her head. “Not quite. Without our reactor, there’s very little power that she can draw from. So she’s gone into sleep mode until we can find a way to either give her more power or transfer her to another computer. Probably the latter.” “That’s good, though I dunno how we’re going to do either without our engineer. You have any more news?” “Yeah. I, um… sorta made first contact…” Astral shot straight up immediately. “You what!?” Hazy placed a hoof on her shoulder and sat her back down. “Yeah. Sorry I didn’t mention it sooner. I wanted to make sure you were okay first.” Astral sighed, her tail flicking in annoyance before she managed to calm down. “Alright. How’d it go? I hope you didn’t shoot them.” “No, actually. It went very well. I found out his name’s Todd, and he’s got a campsite nearby.” She pointed towards the direction she came from. “He seems rather nice.” “Take me to him,” Astral said matter-of-factly, standing up again. “I need to see for myself.” “But you’re still hurt. Maybe later.” Hazy reasoned. Astral shook her head. “No. I’ll be fine. Just take me to this Todd.”