A/N: Damn... 50 chapters. +100,000 words. Never thought I'd get this far. Thanks to everyone who read my ramblings put into words. Speaking of that, be prepared for an extra-long chapter ahead. If it wasn't for you guys, this story would've been canceled at chapter 10, and forty chapters wouldn't have existed. Wish me luck to get to 100.
On the drive back, I thought about that strange burst of energy I felt back in the mall. The car was quiet, with the exception of Vinyl messing with the radio, jumping from channel to channel. Think, what could that energy be? Could I have affected a certain event, that led to that energy? I cross-referenced recent events and the most likely outcome, to figure out what went strangely. Wait, that's it. Luna asked me if she could come with me, and stopped trying far too early. I almost wonder, could Luna have followed me here? Teleported? She did it before, but I only think she could because someone else teleported here first, and she grabbed onto the magic stream. How could she be here on Earth... That's it! She has the ability to transform herself, she could've taken something out of Vinyl's bag, and transformed into that object while inside. But I don't think she replaced the weight offset, I think she just jumped in, hence why Vinyl mentioned her bag being heavier than what she thought. So Luna is here. There's a method of travel, a reason, to explore Earth more, and it sounds like something she would do. Though, what I don't get is, what does Luna have to do with that energy pulse?
I don't know, but I plan to find out. I pull into the garage, turn the car off, and walk into the house. I gave the stop hand sign to Vinyl, and silently opened the door. The garage door led straight into the living room, and as predicted, Luna wasn't there. I bet she heard the car, and hid. If I was Luna, where would I hide in this context? She'd want to hide somewhere where she know's safe, like where she's hid before. Vinyl's bag. The bag was cleanly resting on the couch, in a different place and condition than Vinyl left it in. Gotcha, Luna. I walked over to the bag, and dumped it on the couch. Various items fell out, including a rock. Why a rock...? I held the rock up, and said,
"You're not fooling anyone, Luna." The rock remained the same. She's persistent. "Fine, have it your way. You wouldn't mind if put you between two large speakers and turned Vinyl's music up really loud?" The rock jumped out of my hand, and morphed into human Luna.
"Okay okay, sir Neon, thou hast won. I cannot take anymore torture from modern audio entertainment."
"Why are you here?" Luna started twiddling her hair.
"Uh, well, you see, I kinda wanted to see more of Earth, and I found the human's culture to be a subject of major interest."
"Of course. I'm not your guardian, and you won't survive here. In an integrated society like this one, you can't just appear and start living."
"Can I stay here?"
"No. But I have a feeling you're going to anyway."
"Thine knows me so well. Thou wouldn't leave me on streets?"
"As much as I'd like to, I know you're not going to leave, and I can't just kick you out." I sighed. "Fine, you can stay here."
"Yay, I promise I won't be loud, or in the way, you'll never even know I'm here. Where can I put my pet bats?"
"Pet... bats?"
"Yes, they are quite cute!" A bat suddenly appeared in her hands, and she petted it. It was cartoony and furry, with large white eyes.
"I'm pretty sure that doesn't count as animal. Also, why bats? Couldn't you get a kitten like normal people?"
"Bats stay up with me at night, and can fly with me. Plus, they're cuter. Thou want to pet it?"
"No, I don't want to touch that thing. On Earth, bats are covered in disease, suck blood, well, some do, and are scary. Most bats eat fruit, and the ones that suck blood only do it from farm animals such as cows and horses. And it never kills them, but still, I don't want bats here. Wait, where are you keeping the bats on you?"
"They're part of my clothes."
"That makes sense," I sarcastically retorted. "Just, keep them on you."
"Noted. Game of chess, sir Neon?"
"I guess, I don't really have anything else to do." About twenty bats came from behind Luna, and turned into a chess board with all the pieces. Of course. It had to be goddamn bats.
It's been a few minutes since we've started the game, and I can count at least twenty-seven times she's cheated. The bats are moving when they think I'm not looking. But even with her cheating, I'm still winning. She had a knight, rook, and two pawns left. I had a queen and a bishop. I know it might look like I'm losing, but I've taken account of her cheating, and put it into my strategy. I move my queen up one, pretend to sneeze, Luna moves it sideways in an attempt to get it knocked out, but this will open up her king for an attack with my bishop. And if she moved her king, my queen would be able to attack it in any other square. I started the process, and everything happened as I predicted it would.
"Check mate," I said as I knocked her trapped king over.
"B-but how!?" Luna asked.
"Cheating's no good if your opponent makes it part of his strategy."
"Well played, sir Neon. Despite my thousand years on the moon, you somehow still beat me." Thousand years on the moon, why does that phrase bug me? Oh yeah! That strange energy pulse from before. I completely forgot. Could I subconsciously be associating it with Nightmare Moon? Now that I think about it, it's possible the different moon could be having some sort of effect on Luna. Maybe she can somehow escape the moon she's banished to, and channeled herself to Earth's moon. And calling Luna. Luna seems fine for now, but I better keep an eye on her. Speaking of keeping eyes on things, where did Vinyl run off to? Leaving her alone in a house full of advanced tech isn't a good idea. I can't hear music, so she must not be on the sound system.
"Stay here, Luna." I walked away, and up the stairs. Luna followed. "What?"
"I want to play video games."
"Okay...?"
"Up the stairs then, I'm waiting." Pushy much? I walked the rest of the stairs, to hear repeated gunshots. Not like a real gun, but like from an assault rifle from a shooter game.
"It seems Vinyl is playing a game. You go join her, I need to do something else." I went down another hallway as Luna joined Vinyl in a game. I stepped into my room, and unlocked my computer. I pulled up schematics for an interactive hologram. It was a simple design, I just mod the Kinect, and connect the output with a hologram. This was something I've always wanted to use. A holographic display with hands as an input. I haven't touched this project in a while, but it'll be finished soon. I glanced over at the clock, it was about six P.M.
I picked my head up off my desk. A trail of silva was coming out of my mouth. I wiped it off, and glanced at the clock. 9 P.M. I must've dozed off. That's unlike me, but I guess I did get quite a lot done. Let's review; I finally got done the targeting parameters, it should be able to pick up hand and finger motions, I made a few more 3D vectors for menus and interfaces, and I implanted a networking port. I can start testing it now, but first, I wonder where Vinyl is. I doubt she's still playing games.
"Finally, dude, the movie. I've been waiting here, looking for raves nearby for the past thirty minutes," Vinyl said as she noticed me moving. I turned to her, to see her looking out a window. She leaned against the glass. A light drizzle coated the window. The moon was visible, and fairly low in the sky.
"What movie?" I asked.
"The Thing."
"What thing?"
"The Thing."
"No, what is the thing?"
"That's what the movie's called." Oooh, I remember now. Ugh, I don't feel like it.
"Another day."
"Nope."
"Tomorrow?"
"Right here, right now." It's clear I'm not getting out of this.
"I'm telling you this isn't a good idea."
"Don't care." Vinyl left the window, and pulled me out of my chair. She continued to drag me, until we were at the stairs.
"I can walk, you don't need to pull me." She let go, and I calmly walked downstairs. I don't watch a lot of movies, and horror is something I don't ever touch. This will be an interesting experience.
"Sound system is set up, Movie is in, the T.V. is set correctly, popcorn and drinks are available in short reach. I believe thats all of what you requested," I said to Vinyl as we sat down to watch the movie. The room was in total darkness, with the exception of the dim blue glow from the T.V, that illuminated Vinyl just enough so I could see her outline. As the movie started to play, I had one thought: What is Luna doing?
"Hehe, the night shall be filled with merriment!" Luna whispered to herself as she flew away on a cloud of cartoon bats. As she flew into the night, her eyes came across a stadium full of rapidly strobing lasers and loud wubs. People covered in neon rings were crowding around in the stadium. "Hmm, those colts and fillies seem to be having a bit too much fun..." Luna disappeared in a flash of black, and seconds later, bats flooded the stadium. People ran out, screaming and swatting bats out of their hair. Luna giggled to herself as she hid next to the exit.
Ponyville-- Rarity's boutique
"What do you mean, 'She's not here'?" Rarity asked Sweetie Belle.
"The DJ lady isn't in Ponyville, I don't know where she is," she replied.
"But then who shall be the musician for the party?!"
"I dunno, maybe we could get somepony from Canterlot. What about one of the ponies from The Gala?"
"No no, Pinkie will be here. I don't want another... event like before."
"Shinning, where is my sister?" Celestia asked Shinning Armor as she stood next to him, watching over the royal guards train.
"I don't know, I haven't seen her. Not even her personal guards know where she is," Armor replied. Celestia pondered over her sister's sudden disappearance.
"I hope she's okay..." Celestia whispered to herself.
"We. Will. Never. Speak of this. Ever. Again." I told Vinyl as the movie finished. Vinyl laid back and chuckled.
"I dunno, you screamed pretty hard back there. Remember when The Thing killed that person? You grabbed onto me for dear life. Also, I didn't know you could jump that high."
"What did I just say?"
"The movie wasn't that scary. You can let go of my hand now." I looked down at my hand, to find it still holding onto Vinyl's hand. I released my grip, wanting to forget the movie. I had no idea that it was that scary. Vinyl screamed about half as much as I did. I suddenly feel like less of a man. Oh well, I just don't want Vinyl to go around and telling everyone about this... event.
"Well then, it's late, I'll be heading to bed now."
"What's planned for tomorrow?"
"Just going places, looking at things, stuff like that."
"I love looking at things," Vinyl jokingly said. I went upstairs, with Vinyl following close behind. It was still dark, and I saw something move in the darkness. Must be my imagination. I went into my room, and Vinyl continued to follow me.
"Uh, what do need?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you here? You can go back to your own bed."
"You really want to sleep alone, unconscious, for eight hours, and in the dark? Something could attack you." As much as I'd like to tell her how ridiculous that is, after seeing that movie, I don't think I'll survive this night without someone near me. Can't let her know that, though.
"Fine, if you're so insistent. We can share the bed." I had to look behind me every few seconds out of pure paranoia. No matter how much I tell myself the movie is fake, I'm still paranoid as fuck.
"Oh goodie." I can sense a small amount of fear in her voice: It was a little more restrained in vocal decibel range, and she paused longer on syllable breaks. It'a the details that matter. I switched off the lights, fell into bed, and felt Vinyl crawl into the bed next to me. My scumbag brain replayed the scariest scenes from the movie. The one thing that kept me from freaking out, was the warmth that Vinyl brought. She was almost like a candle, illuminating the darkness and keeping me safe.
No sexy times were had.
Something brushed my leg, causing me to wake up. Based on the current light content in my room, I'd say it was about eight 'o clock A.M. I glanced at my leg, to see that Vinyl was slowly falling off the bed head first. She must of brushed past my leg. I slipped out of bed, quiet enough to not wake Vinyl. But that didn't stop the universe, Vinyl fell to the floor, head first. She rolled forward, landing in a sitting position. The sheet covered her face. She thrashed about in a futile attempt to gain optical senses again. I really should just say sight. Much simpler. She started hopping on one foot around the room, trying to escape. This was almost comical. Vinyl then tripped on the bed, the sheet coming off her head. She stood back up, and brushed off her pants. After a quick shake from her head, her hair returned to its normal state.
"Are you done yet?" I asked her. She glanced up to me and smiled.
"Dude, I pretended to be a jetpack while spooning you," she said, in a very nonchalant manner that she always has.
"That's... I don't even know what to say to that. Wait, when was this? I don't recall the event you're describing."
"Oh, sometime after you fell asleep. I figured out that you would be most likely run away if you were still awake. You were shivering out of fear."
Okay, I lied, there were some sexy times. Mild sexy times.
I just gave her a blank stare. How would a normal person react in a situation like this? Oh yeah, use an excuse. Breakfast anyone? I started heading out of my room.
"Whoa, dude, where are you going?" Vinyl asked as she jogged up to me.
"Food," was the only thing I said. Do I even have food here? I think there's a half-eaten bagel in the fridge. Maybe some cereal in a cupboard. I usually just eat things in a groggily-themed daze in the morning. I need to contemplate about supplies in my house, if Vinyl's going to be visiting here often.
"Have fun with that, I'm heading back to bed, it's way too early for me." Vinyl walked back into my room, and fell onto the bed. I went downstairs, hoping for cereal or something else left for breakfast. After scrambling through the cupboard for about ten minutes, I found a half-empty box of Cheerios. I poured the cereal into a white bowl, but I then realized was out of milk. Meh, fuck it. I got the ketchup, and started pouring it in the bowl. I stopped myself mid-squirt. What the heck am I doing?! The cereal sat in the thick, red ketchup, and I lost my appetite. That's just gross.
Vinyl layed in Dylan's bed, quick asleep. Her snores scared away the birds and squirrels that were visible from the window. Her mouth opened and closed in a cartoon-like motion as she snored. Luna walked past the door frame, then walked back and looked at the sleeping DJ.
'It seems sir Neon is absent,' Luna thought before walking off, going up the attic, and falling asleep on a bed made of bats that just materialized in front of her.
"I'm not surprised. I had a feeling you would just show up, asking me for help, for some stupid problem," I said to Human Twilight, as she appeared. I had sat down on a couch, ready to watch whatever bullshit they were feeding people on the news, when Twilight suddenly appeared, and fell down on the middle of the floor. Being the emotionless, uncaring person I am, I ignored her and turned on the T.V.
"Hmm? How did you know?" Twilight asked as she got up from the floor, trying not to fall over.
"It's starting to get repetitive at this point."
"In retrospect, I can see what you mean. But still, there's a giant problem! Equestria is doomed if princess Celestia finds out! And worst of all, I'll disappoint her! She'll never want me as a student ever again!" I turned the T.V. up louder to try and drain out her screaming. "This is serious! My life is on the line! Aren't you going to help!?" I muted the T.V.
"Listen, I don't care. You tend to exaggerate when things go wrong. And even more so when Queen Bitch is involved."
"I guess you don't hold princess Celestia that highly..."
"I hate authority. People shouldn't be above each other."
"But she..." Twilight pulled out a blue book from nowhere, with 'Why Princess Celestia Is Best Princess' on the cover. Where does she find these? "Oh! Celestia banished Nightmare Moon to the moon. If she didn't, Equestria would be trapped in darkness for-"
"Equestria was dark for two hours longer than normal. Luna got banished to a giant rock, all alone, for a thousand years. And Luna had every right to be angry. She worked just as hard as her sister, and yet everypony feared her for just doing her job. Any normal pony would've snapped a long time before Luna did, and would have done much worse than make it be night for two hours longer. Not a single pony was even hurt. Even after all that, she stayed Luna. And ponies still feared her. All her life. What Celestia did was wrong. Luna didn't deserve that. Celestia could've told eveypony not to fear her, maybe even try and make friends for luna, but instead, Celestia did nothing. Almost like, she wanted this to happen. She wanted Luna to snap, so she could look good. She became the glorified hero, while Luna took the fall. Celestia's no hero, and she had everypony fooled for a thousand years."
Luna had her ear to the attic floor, listening to every word she heard. She could pick up Dylan's and Twilight's conversation. A tear rolled down Luna's face as Dylan talked.
"Could sister really have done that?" Luna whispered. She stopped listening and silently shed tears on the floor.
"I... No... You're wrong!" Twilight screamed.
"Never willing to see the truth. You'll be smart enough to know I'm right soon enough."
"But she kept all of us safe for all that time! She can't be evil!"
"Not once did I say she was evil. She only kept you all alive so she had a kingdom. So she had more power. I've been studying everything I could find about her, and that's the conclusion I came up with. I don't obey Celestia, and you shouldn't either. Nopony should." There was a long silence as Twilight mulled over her next few words.
"I hope you're wrong, but I can't find anything to fight that idea. I will confront the princess, but I still need help. Just five minutes, please."
"Fine."
"And...?" I asked Fluttershy as she told me about the morning events. A large NASA satellite was stuck halfway in the ground, right outside Fluttershy's cottage. The nearby grass was burnt. The only ponies there were me, and The Mane Six.
"Well... it just crashed. I was feeding the chickens, and I heard something crash, and I hid in a tree until Twilight talked me out of it. It's been here for a few hours."
"Interesting. Okay, you can go now." Before I finished the last sentence, Fluttershy disappeared in a flash of yellow. She was terrified of the alien object, and I'm amazed she could stay this close to it, thirty yards away, for two minutes. "Stay back, everypony. I'm not sure what in there, but I don't want it self-destructing." It wasn't going to self-destruct, that's stupid, but I don't want them finding anything out about one of the largest space programs on Earth. As I trot up to it, I take note of the minor cosmetic damage. Strange, uncontrolled reentry to the atmosphere would've disintegrated most of it. This is some kind of secret deep space satellite, made for finding alien life, based on the long-range bio-scanners on this thing. Recently made too, the type of carbon processing in this type of metal is reminiscent to the same way of making hyperdiamond. It looks like something threw off the gravitational parameters, this isn't a capsule, and wasn't designed to land. No radio control either, it must be launch and forget, and wait for it to come back in a few years. I tapped my hoof on the control panel hatch. The hatch popped open, revealing the inner wirings. Based on the design and materials used, I'd guess this thing started being built in 2008, and finished 2011. Maybe a few tweaks later, not sure. I poked my head inside, looking for more information about the satellite. The architecture was clearly NASA, and there was some Japanese-designed components also.
"Neon, what is that?" Twilight asked. I banged my head against the ceiling from Twilight's sudden question.
"Ow! Son of a..." I retreated from the machine to face Twilight. "A scientific thing humans shot into space to find life not on Earth."
"Like... here...?"
"Not specifically, but yes. And it looks like the magical pseudo-gravity here messed up the flight trajectory, causing it to crash."
"Should we... send it back?"
"They certainly won't miss it. And I don't think you've invented rockets yet. No, we need to destroy the rest and make sure nopony else finds out."
"What if there are more?"
"Doubtful, but destroy them if you see them."
"Noted. Now, can you come with me to see the princess?"
"Are you kidding? That's suicide; You're on your own for that." I walked away from Twilight, and she crushed the satellite with her magic.
"This was suppose to be a quick trip, I don't have time for this," I said to Fluttershy as she tried to keep up with me.
"But you're in a lot of pain, I can see it in your eyes," Fluttershy said.
"That's nice." I trotted faster, wanting to return home. I dislike the shy one. Far too kind, it almost burns to talk to her. No challenge. She doesn't ever create conflict, or disagreements, and no challenge means no fun. What was her name again? I seem to forget a lot.
"But I can't just let ponies live on in pain."
"You've known me for weeks, and now you want to help me? And what do you mean, 'in my eyes'?"
"I-I couldn't get to you. You always ran off, or had something else to do. I ca-"
"I still have something else to do."
"I can tell because you don't look calm, your eyes show pain and suffering. You're hiding from yourself, trying to block out what happened."
"You're a veterinarian? Or at least an animal caretaker?"
"Yes, but I also care for my friends."
"Oh, so you're a licensed psychiatrist, with a doctorate in psychology?"
"Well... no... but I can stil-"
"Then I don't care. I'm not even your friend."
"We can be friends..."
"I'm not interested."
"But Twilight said you're really nice, when ponies get to know you."
"Ha."
"If you want Vinyl here, Twilight already had her come back to Equestria." Why is the shy one so persistent? This is very unlike her. To be fair, I haven't really spent that much time with her, or really cared enough to pay attention to her personality.
"So Twi's in on it also... If I do what you say, will you leave me alone?"
"Yes." I sighed. I need to weigh my options. As much as I just want to walk away, I probably should be nicer to the shy one, since she's Twilight's friend. And if it gets her to stop trying to get me, I'll do it.
"Fine. This better not have anything to do with yoga or scented candles." I swear to god if I find one candle...
Fluttershy had me follow her into her house, to look at a schedule detailing the date and events that would happen. She had already planned this out; She wanted me to spend at least a day with each of her friends, with a preset list of things to do that matched the ponies' personality. For an example, Shutterfly, no wait, wrong name. Eh, close enough. Shutterfly made it so when I'm with Rainbow Dash, we have to do 'fun' things, such as prank other ponies and ride in sleds. It seems Flyshutter had trouble coming up with things both her and I would like. I don't blame her, we're nowhere near close in personality and hobbies. Though after what I did at her parent's house, I'm amazed Gutternigh could even get Rainbow to do it. I looked at the fourth day, it had Fluttershy on it. So that's her name.
"So, you want me and Twilight to spend the day doing these things? Why? What will that even do?" I asked Fluttershy and waved my hoof over Twilight's spot.
"Oh, well I know you both like learning, so I thought you two could do science-y things." While she did put a lot of thought into the schedule, most of it are based on incorrect observations about me. Oh well, still can't blame her.
Twilight and I stood in her library, examining the schedule. It seems she had no idea what Fluttershy had planned. Though Twilight did mention that Fluttershy said something about having me spend a day with each of her friends, but it was a while ago. I still don't get why I'm doing this. It's not like I have anything better to do, but I still don't like most of her friends.