//------------------------------// // Chapter IX // Story: Kaiserreich // by ObiWan //------------------------------// Irgendwo Über dem Regenbogen Amber Night has been up all night trying to decipher the secrets behind the iron box of the alien. She has green eyes, an orange coat, and a blue mane and tail. Most of the equipment of the creature has been transferred into a secret facility in Canterlot, where many things are being studied, but most of them simply don't make sense. There is also the fact that most of the things are written in another language, an alien language that is worse. She frowns, looking at the several papers with drawings of the equipment, "damnit," she curses under her breath. Sighing, she puts the papers away and jumps off her seat, walking to the exit of her office. The corridors are white and old, as that facility used to be a training ground for the wonderbolts, what a shame that it was taken by the Equestrian government thanks to the tax problems with some governmental organizations. She finally arrives at her destination, the place where the alien artefacts are being held, and in the centre, the major piece, the flying iron box. Recent reports say that the princesses haven't asked the alien about the functioning of any piece in that room. She glances at the structure, looking at its details with attention. Suddenly, something catches her eye, that being a glowing thing coming from one of the compartments under the ladder. She gets close to it, trying to find out what is causing that. She taps the metal, trying to see what happens. At first, silence, absolutely nothing, but then, something falls from that compartment, startling her immensely. She hides under a chair, waiting for an explosion to happen..... something that as you have guessed, never occurs. After one minute of heavy breathing and hiding, she slowly begins to get close to the fallen item. It is a small metal box, with something black covering one side of it. She touches the metal with hesitation, backing off afterwards. Some words are written on the front of it, obviously with no way for her to understand them. Her attention changes to a small button on the side of the thing. She stares at it with intensity, trying to decide what to do. She sighs, "what's the worse thing that could happen?" she surrounds the object with her magic, and slowly presses the button. Deutschland sendet eine friedensbotschaft an............ "AHHH!" she drops the metal box with her magic, backing off with fear against a desk. ..........The United States of America sends a message of peace and............ Her eyes widen in fear, thinking that this time, she will die. Her body is shaking as she grips with force the edge of the desk, breathing heavily while hearing some voices appearing out of nowhere, with no meaning to her. ..........La República de Colombia les manda un mensaje de paz y prosperidad a............ The sounds seems to come out of the metal box...... she quickly ignites her magic again and presses the button on the side again. ..........Российская Федерация посылает сообщение мира- The sound stops, as well as the images of what seems to be flags also disappear. The same jet-black colour returns to the screen. She keeps staring at the metal box with fear, her heavy breathing seems to not cease down. She gulps, "I gotta tell the princesses." Celestia and Luna were going to have a relatively calm day, Twilight was successful in questioning the human, something that only raised more questions. Now, an incident appeared to have happened back in the principal laboratory where the equipment of the human is situated. Shortly after receiving the news, Celestia cancelled the visit of Fluttershy with the human, sending the 6 of them to the throne room. After some moments of waiting, three ponies entered the room, covered in hazmat suits as they carried the object with magic. A table was situated at the centre of the place for whatever that thing could be. They place with caution the object on the table, the black display facing the ceiling. Behind them, Amber Night is watching the scene with a nervous face. The ponies retract from the table and exit the room, leaving only the princesses, the mane 6, and Amber Night. They all stare at the object with curiosity. Celestia clears her throat and gets close to Amber Night with a calm face, "so," she begins, startling the unicorn, "you are the one that caused this whole commotion." She is hesitant, looking at the Solar Princess with a nervous smile, "I-I.... umm it was an accident, the thing just- turned on!" "Turned on?" Twilight asks, also getting close to the scientist, "and tell us, how did you do it." She was going to answer, but Rainbow interrupts her as she gets close to the object with a frown, "I knew that beast was evil!" "But-" "So tell me, how do you activate this thing anyways," even before Amber could respond, Rainbow finds the button as well. A determined smile appears on her muzzle, "what dow e have here." "Wait Rainbow!" Twilight says in vain. Immediately afterwards pressing the button, the sound startles everyone again, including the princesses. Deutschland sendet eine friedensbotschaft an............ The anxiety passes quickly, as that transforms into curiosity in everyone there, Twilight most of them all. "They are words!" she says with emotion, getting close to the tablet, looking at the flags, "this is incredible! how does this works, it is showing images and producing sound!" She claps her hoofs. Celestia and Luna also get close to the tablet. They both glance at each other, nodding afterwards. "They must be foreign languages," Luna begins, "judging for the change of their tones." "But for our luck," Celestia says with a smile on her muzzle, her horn glowing as she talks, "we have a solution for that." Of course they have a solution for that Celestia fires a magic bolt at the device. It turns off for some seconds, making everyone fill with anxiety. After a minute of waiting, almost failing the hopes of everyone, the tablet starts again, this time in an understandable language for everyone. Even Rainbow Dash is silent, thanks to the message that she didn't expect that would come out of that. Germany sends a message of peace and prosperity to the beings of the universe...... The voice says while the screen shows the flag of Peter, Luna thought. Suddenly, that flag changed into another one, a weird designed one being conformed of some red and white stripes and on its corner, a blue background with stars. ..........The United States of America sends a message of peace and prosperity to our fellow friends in other planets......... Each time that a language changes, Celestia's horn glows again, translating each language into Ponish. There are simply so many of them, comparing it with Equestria where Ponish is the dominant language of Equus. The translation spell also works for the letters, as the name of the nations being showcased is immediately translated when shown. Some letters amused Twilight immensely, one of them is the representation of a dragon on a plain yellow field with a red circle. That flag confirms her theory, they do have a same way of seeing dragons in the two worlds, even though, she left those thoughts for herself. Suddenly the voices stop, and the image changes to a menu, with several categories on it. "What is now supposed to happen?" Applejack asks, raising an eyebrow. They all remain silent before Amber Night interrupts it as she gets begins to inspect the things on the screen. Sounds Of Earth Music Of Earth Art Of Earth Films Of Earth Culture Of Earth Images Of Earth "It appears to be showcasing categories of their planet!" she exclaims in happiness, a wide smile on her muzzle, "but-" her face changes to a confused one. "But what?" Twilight asks as she looks at the screen as well, reading the categories. "What is a film?" she asks raising an eyebrow. "Maybe some sort of art of them," Rarity questions, "I would love to see the designs of those humans, it would be lovely to know their concepts." "Hmph," Luna takes the tablet off the hooves of the scientist, winning a glare from her sister, "let's find out." Using her magic, she touches the screen, something that changes into a wider category, featuring several pictures of humans with written words on them. "Paintings," Celestia says confused, tilting her head as she begins to read the titles on them. The Godfather Fantasia Citizen Kane Vertigo "What are those?" Twilights questions, "why would they put giant names over the paintings." "Maybe something cultural?" Fluttershy suggests. "Or maybe they are magazines!" Rarity says as she claps her hooves, "they must have at least that." Our Fight Saving Private Reuss King Kong Toy Story They keep looking at the catalogue with curiosity and trepidation, if those are magazines, then they have weird names. Many of them depict humans and others not, others are just backgrounds with mountains or cities that could be on their planet. One category catches the eye of Twilight. The Wizard Of Oz The Great Chairman The Phantom of the Opera Mary Poppins "The Wizard of Oz?" Twilight says as she tilts her head, "they also have also wizards on that planet." "But the hooman didn't say that there isn't magic on his planet," Luna responds with hesitation. "It looks like a party!" Pinkie Pie suggests with happiness. Oh yeah, she is also there. Twilight shrugs, "maybe they mean another thing in their planet," she keeps staring at the photo, "let's find out." "Wait!" Rainbow Dash intercedes with a little bit of nervousness, "how do we know that it isn't dangerous." "It hasn't made anythin' dangerous since we used it," Applejack responds to her friend, "plus, ya' don't want to see the things of the aliens?" "Its just that-" she taps her chin with her hoof, "I mean-... he is an alien!" "But that doesn't mean its dangerous," Fluttershy responds in a very soft harsh tone, "we should at least see." "I-I" Rainbow Dash sighs, "just for caution." Twilight stares at the title again, "we will never know if we don't find out." Her magic surrounds the device, and with hesitation, she softly presses the screen. Suddenly, it becomes dark, filling Twilight with fear, thinking that she just damaged the device, that is until an adult stallion voice begins. The Following Film Commemorates the End Of the Second American Civil War and every soldier that gave his life for the nation. The words leave everyone confused for some seconds. That is until the screen changes again, showing an image with background music. "They have arts!" Twilight says happily, "that's music!" "A lion?" even with the shared interest of the arts, Celestia asks while raising an eyebrow, "they also have animals similar to the ones of Equus." Metro Goldwyn Mayer Their eyes widen, as their mouth hangs loose, including Pinkie Pie, as her usual happiness succeeded with shock, the image suddenly moved, the lion moved as it roared. "IMPOSSIBLE!" Amber Night exclaims, "it must have magic, how is the image moving!" It changes again showing a background of what looks to be clouds with some letters on them. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Presents "The clouds are moving!" Luna shouts, startling everyone again, "what class of technology is this!" "I told you!" Rainbow Dash exclaims, "let's destroy it before it explodes! or calls his alien friends!" A Victor Fleming Production Several names appear on the screen, weird names to give for a pony lets say. "Names?" Twilight asks, calming the commotion, "but what is this?" "An alien communication device!" Rainbow Dash says again. "Maybe they are just showing things," Fluttershy counters. "Why do chips are filled mostly with air?" "Who are all these ponies?" Celestia asks, raising an eyebrow, "why would they just show names-" Their eyes widen, as the image changes again, to the one of a human. A human appears to be running through what looks to be a farm. "Cows?" Applejack says as she raises an eyebrow, "there are cows in his world?!" "Shhhh," Twilight frowns, "it is like a-" Her voice halts, as the human begins to talk with other humans. They are simply too astonished to even describe what they are seeing. "Other humans!" Celestia exclaims, "incredible, this is like a." "Recorded theatre," Twilight finishes Celestia's sentence, "they are acting! that is art!" They all remain silent afterwards watching the humans talk with each other. Many of the creatures seem to be in Equus, with only one curiosity, none of them are talking, only the humans are talking. Is not a place you can get by a boat or a plane, it's far far away... behind the moon, beyond the rain..... Twilight has a smile on her muzzle, she is probably watching the most important thing in the history of Equestria since the two sisters were crowned. By her intuition, she guessed that the character that is talking must be female, judging by her voice and how she differs from a male, similar to the stallions and mares. Luna's curiosity also perks up, the fact that they referred to the moon makes her raise an eyebrow. The possibilities behind this.... are just infinite. Somewhere over the rainbow.... The sound of someone singing, that's all it needed. Everyone carefully hears the lyrics, they are delivered with such emotion, such pain and love at the same time. The human singing it does it with almost perfection, the way she says the words, with hope you could say. Fluttershy almost sheds a tear, the lyrics are truly, "beautiful....." The story moves on, the attention of everyone is focused on the ´film.´ They all take seats when this thing seemed to take longer than expected. They all gasp when the movie suddenly transforms into colour. Everything now looked so beautiful and so vibrant. Their understanding of this 'film' is well resumed, noticing every scene. In one of them, a witch appears, evil of nature, something that they did not even care for the way it's being developed, the colour, the moving images, everything seems so beautiful. It seems that the mare needs to find a way back to her home called Kansas. I should ask the human about this, Luna thinks as the film moves on. Celestia giggles several times, the silliness of it, because of every representation that they had of aliens, this isn't even near one of them, they are acting as humans would do, with the technology of capturing moments into a full moving picture, something that a camera could not do. Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow, she recognizes this is not what she thought about them, but the evil could hide as something good. Twilight is just captivated by the beauty of it, from the obvious costumes to the settings, it looks so imaginative, it reminds her of Ponyville, the roads, the magic in the air, and the silly acts. The end finally comes by when they defeat the evil witch and finally meet this wizard of oz. She finally returns to her home to realize that everything was a dream, well, at least that is what looks like. When the film completely ends, it automatically sends them back to the catalogue of these films. It only seems emotion, true emotion coming from those words, the songs, the colours, the sets, and everything behind that motion picture. They captured something truly beautiful, this humans created a recorded play for seeing it any time. It is just.... "Breathtaking..." Are this humans aliens, or what really are they? they must feel love, emotions, something that is hard to tell from the way that Peter talks, but this, this just shows a new face of them.