//------------------------------// // Chapter 06 - The Visitor // Story: Backyard Anomaly // by Marmo //------------------------------// The Backyard Anomaly Chapter 06 – The Visitor The days came and went and soon Michael and Celestia developed some sort of routine. Celestia just would stay in his house while Michael worked at the ACASC. Each evening they would cook dinner together and Celestia asks him about his day. Michael would ask Celestia various things about her and her world, each time getting baffled. Celestia would ask Michael about the Earth and its technology, each time being intrigued, surprised and impressed. They have been living together for almost over a week now and both got to know each other quite a bit as they talked for hours every evening. Once, Celestia and Michael both drifted into a slumber on the couch after they watched a movie. In the morning they realized they had just cuddled in their sleep together. No biggie, right? Michael however feared this would make things very awkward, but Celestia just brushed it off as if nothing had happened. She did have an occasional blush while talking about it, but she quickly explained to him that sharing a bed with a friend is common in Equestria and pretty much every pony does it. He still felt a bit weird about sharing a bed or couch with a magical pony, but it did feel good and if it's normal to her then…. Who would judge, right? It’s not like anyone would find out so... One night he heard a scream from her room, and he rushed to her room to find her panting in distress while looking with sadness towards him. She had had a bad dream. Something about her sister being banished to somewhere far away by her. Apparently, a long story which she would tell him another day. That night, she asked him with pleading eyes if he could stay until she fell asleep again. Michael then wondered how he would freak out or even lose his mind if he was trapped on a different planet with no other human around. So, he just nodded with a compassionate smile on his lips. Needless to say, the two grew to like each other quite a bit during the last few days. The princess is glad that Michael took her on this faithful day when she hungrily nibbled on his blueberry bushes. After just a week he turned out to be a wonderful friend. Of course, they had a rough start but that was quickly forgotten. He is a friend with whom she could share anything and get an honest and genuine reaction back. He would not simply agree with her but actually discuss topics. He would laugh with her, argue with her and even scold her when it's appropriate. It was nothing extraordinary, just two so different beings enjoying their friendship. But Celestia enjoyed every second of it, knowing it would soon come to an end. Her magic is getting better and better. In two weeks, she would be ready. Plus. she is a bit concerned about how things are going in Equestria without her. Of course, her sister could raise the sun as well, but it is quite a taxing task. Right now, Celestia is sitting on the couch with a rectangular device in her hoofs. Michael gave it to her this morning and explained to her how it works. She remembers him using these various gadgets with his fingers since they were made for humans. Celestia tried to do the same, but all those devices seem to reject her, simply refusing to function against her the touch of her hoofs. Perplexed by this, Michael explained to her that her hoofs and fur are non-conductive and therefore cannot use these so-called ‘touch-screens’. She would need to use her nose or tongue, but luckily, he left some sort of pen for her. With this pen, she could access this ‘touch-screen’ technology. Levitating the pen with her magic, she brings it towards the screen of the rectangular device. She remembers him calling it a ‘smart phone’. Celestia knew this device, like many other human inventions, is a marvellous piece of technology, so the smart part was clear. But she did not yet know what a ‘phone’ is. Celestia just shrugs in wonder and then touches the screen with the pen. The device magically turns on, displaying various icons and a background picture of a wild forest. She studies the picture as it reminds her quite a lot of the Everfree forest. She skims the various icons and immediately recognizes two. One is clearly resembling a camera and a different icon resembling a music note. Tapping the music icon, she sees a list of music titles to choose from. A grin forms on her muzzle, quickly tapping one of the songs with the pen. She reads the name of the music piece carefully. “’Hooman music…’ “Hmm, that’s a weird title for a song. Nopony would ever call their own music piece ‘pony music’. Maybe it’s a hooman thing?” She wonders for a second and then taps the pen against the screen. human music - YouTube Immediately the device in her hoofs starts vibrating gently as it emits a tune. She keeps listening to the song for a while, a bit underwhelmed by its repetitiveness and generally unremarkable melody. “Maybe the next one is better.” She slowly scrolls through the various songs and soon loses herself in the hundreds of titles. She listens to everything, from rock and metal to pop and rap to finally even classical music. “I can’t believe these humans came up with all these different genres! I wonder If Michael is able to play an instrument…” After almost half an hour, Celestia then goes back to that one song that somehow found its way into her head. And it's stuck there good. She grins with excitement and bobs her head to the left and right while wondering how she could exit the music section. After a few taps here and there, she finds herself on the home screen again. She then taps the camera icon, the music of the song she chose still being emitted by this marvellous device. She hums along with the tune of the song with a happy smile on her face. Her eyes open wide as she sees a perfect replica of Michael’s living room being displayed onto the device. She moves the smartphone around and smiles in excitement, tapping the red button a few times to snap a few pictures of Michaels home, including some paintings, plants and the luscious garden through the windows. Curiously tapping some sort of icon consisting of two arrows, the screen stutters for a short second and soon she sees two curious magenta irises glaring at her. She gasps in shock, almost dropping the phone but quickly catching it again. She already realized that apparently, this device has a camera on its front side as well. Celestia curses herself for her silly antics and thanks her sun that Michael did not see this. With a smile on her muzzle, she imagines how her human friend would tease her about it. Luckily for the alicorn, he is still at work. Levitating the phone in front of her, she looks with awe at the device which displays her as a mirror would. She smiles into the device and then taps the screen with the pen, taking a selfie. She levitates the smartphone closer to her face to inspect the picture with awe. The professional photographers in her castle surely would hate to see such a device. Taking pictures was a tedious task and the negative images had to be taken to professionals. This thing however would generate a perfect and crystal clear image within a fraction of a second. Celestia grins and levitates the phone away from her, posing for the camera in various angles while the speaker of the smartphone still emits the song she likes so much. Michael exits his car with a smile on his face. He can’t want to spend his weekend with this silly horse. While walking towards his front door with a happy gait he wonders what shenanigans the alien princess would be doing this time. Maybe she’s arguing with his home assistant again? He grins when he remembers Celestia trying to explain to the device that magic is indeed real and not ‘something out of a children’s book’. Maybe she is overloading the popcorn machine with her magic once again? The entire house was full of popcorn, and she loved it, diving in the massive amounts of popcorn like a child. He soon joined her and they even had a little popcorn ‘ball’ fight. In the end, both tried to ‘drown’ the other in the popcorn masses. Michael shudders while remembering how Celestia had to help him with her magic to get a few pieces of popcorn out of his windpipe. He also had to help her remove loads of it from her mane and tail. Even after two showers, she had a faint smell of popcorn accompanying her. “God, I’m gonna miss that bloody sun-horse when she’s gone.” He shakes his head with a smile while opening the door of his home. It still smells of popcorn. He once again looks over his shoulder to scan the streets for anyone looking, and then closes the door. “Celestia? I’m home. Are you ready for another movie and game’s night?” So far, no reply from her. “Celestiaaaaa” He calls out to her. ... "Princess?" He asks a bit unsure. Michael looks to the left and right, not spotting her, but soon he notices some sound coming from upstairs. He could hear some sort of muffled singing. Was she playing some music with his stereo? “-ay my life was filled with rain~” Michael listens attentively to the happy voice singing a song while carefully walking upstairs towards the second floor. Soon the music gets clearer and clearer, but he quickly realizes that it’s coming from the bathroom. “Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain…” He soon realizes that it’s not some music blaring from a speaker, but someone is actually singing. It’s Celestia’s voice. She is in his shower. Celestia is singing her lungs out in his showers as if she was attending a karaoke event. He hears her turning off the shower and the sound of her hoofs against the bathroom surface could be heard as she exits the shower. All the while she was humming a tune which he clearly remembered since he is an oldies fan. Apparently, the sun-princess stumbled over this song from Boney M which he had in his playlist. He hears her levitate something with her magic, and soon the sound of his hairdryer could be heard. “The dark days are gone, and the bright days are here~” Michael snickers with a shit-eating grin on his face. He stands in the hallway right before the bathroom door and just leans against the wall while listening to her singing. He must admit her voice sounded amazing and quite soothing. “My Sunny one shines so sincere…” He hears her use some of her magic, presumably to collect a few towels and whatnot. Then the doorknob is being turned and her singing is now crisp and clear with no door in the way. Celestia is standing there with her eyes closed, a relaxed smile on her muzzle. Her fur is damp and wet with a few towels laying loosely around her back and neck. She has a towel wrapped around her mane while looking up in the air to sing out the finale. “Sunny one so true, I love youuu~.” She has her muzzle raised into the air while happily singing out the song, getting the lyrics perfectly. Then she sighs happily and lets out a breath of air, planning to move into her room but then she sees something standing in the hallway just a few feet in front of her. “AAhhhheeeeeiippppp!” She shrieks in terror, a towel falling down from her as she extends her wings in panic. Her terror-driven shriek turns into one of embarrassment as she realizes the figure standing fright in front of her was actually Michael, her human friend and caretaker. He is looking at her with a shit-eating grin on his face, his smartphone pointed towards her. Clearly, he had to record this little moment for his own enjoyment. Celestia thinks about how much bits the Canterlot Daily press would pay him for this little clip. Millions... “I ahh uhh… Hi there, Michael!” She exclaims in shock, trying to compose her. She quickly folds her wings back towards her sides and picks up the towel with a hoof, flinging it over her back again. While trying to hide her flushed face with her damp mane. “H-How long have you been standing there? I thought you would be at work!” I got home early. And don’t worry, I’ve been here for just a few minutes. “He gives her a smile, clearly enjoying the look of the flustered Princess standing in front of him. “Common, get yourself dry, Sunny. We have a movie and two pizza's waiting for us.” Celestia just stands there, blinking in surprise and mild embarrassment as Michael hops down the stairs with a happy gait. “I-Err Yes. I’ll be ready soon.” Stutters out Celestia. Michael stumbles into the living room where Celestia is already sitting on the couch, looking with an excited expression towards the big TV. Her eyes are glued to the screen and her muzzle hangs open as she realizes something. “T-These ‘Autobots’ can talk? You told me that humans were the only sentient species!” Michael finishes waddling towards the couch with various snacks and drinks in his arms. He sets down a bowl of chips, popcorn and sweets onto the table and fills her a glass of sparkly water. It’s quite a lot but this magical princess proved to be quite a hefty eater. “They aren’t real. It’s computer-generated stuff. Think of it as an action comic, but it’s a movie and everything looks kinda real.” Celestia gives him a quick glance and then her eyes are glued back at the screen, already levitating several popped kernels, and floating them conveniently into her mouth. “Fascinating…” Maybe she could stay here a little longer, Michael seems like a wonderful host and friend so far. She gives the human a swift glance, looking into the corner of his right eye for a moment. “Thank you for…. Everything, Michael. You really are a welcoming and generous p- human.” He takes a seat next to Celestia and leans back with a happy sigh, throwing his feet onto the recliner sitting in front of the couch. His slippers fall down towards the floor. “You’re welcome, Princess. I actually enjoy you crashing on me… Makes it feel kind of livelier in this big house if I’m honest.” He looks swiftly over his shoulder towards her, and they meet their gazes for a swift second. She then quickly looks back towards the TV. -Was the princess still blushing over the little karaoke incident? Silly cute horse…- The two remain silent and enjoy the movie. Celestia is once again glued to the TV screen, inching closer and closer to it with her long swan-like neck. She stares at the scenes in awe. Sometimes she cringes a bit as the violence gets more and more intense. They watched a few movies, but so far this ‘Transformers’ movie was the most violent. Interesting, awe-striking but violent nonetheless. A few humans in a desert are attacked by a weird scorpion-like robot and clearly getting their asses kicked. The humans keep firing their weapons towards this metallic but scorpion-like creature. But so far nothing could stop its rampage. Celestia gasps at its sheer size, destructive power, and relentless nature. “T-This looks so real! Are you sure this never happened?” Michael is crunching on some chips and washes them down with a big gulp of water. “Y-Yea. Basically, all those weird alien robot machines are not real. All humans are actors, and no one got hurt don’t worry. But these weapons we use...” He is referring to the various machine guns and rocket launchers the humans use in the movie, “They are real.” In the next scene, two A-10 Warthog Aircraft could be seen approaching the battlefield, getting ready to take down the dangerous scorpion-like robot with their weapons. “Oh, like this one. I actually saw one of those at an air show a few years ago,” Exclaims Michael with a grin. Celestia just gawks in awe as the two flying machines soar over the battlefield, unleashing their weapons down towards the rampaging scorpion. First, their gatling-gun-like main weapons fire towards the battlefield. They screech like a dozen hydras as bullets send sand and smaller rocks several meters into the air. Then the pilots could be seen pressing a button. Several hellfire missiles soar towards the stumbling beast. The area around the decepticon erupts into explosions and flames as the weapons impact the creature. Celestia gasps in shock and awe. “By the maker! You say humans actually possess these flying war-machines?!” Michael nods nonchalantly, stuffing a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth. “Yea. Pretty cool, right? What about in your home? Do you ponies also have a military air force in Equestria? Celestia thinks about the newly constructed battleships they had in the Canterlot hangars. These Airships had several cannons and are the finest and deadliest war machines Equs has seen. But compared to these…. things… They were merely crude toys. “Y-Yes we do.” She tried her best to not be amazed or scared of these human weapons. But it clearly affected her. As the Princess of Equestria she has to be strong and under no circumstances should her kingdom be belittled, even if their military weaponry is nowhere near as strong as these human weapons. “We do have dozens of battleships with incredibly powerful weapons as well!” Michael just grins at that. “That’s pretty cool!” Celestia is in a trance like state as the jets in the movie fly away at an immense speed. Her eyes grow wide as she imagines the Canterlot Castle being attacked by these flying things while her own ponies and even guards flee in terror. She turns her head quickly and gives Michael a wary look. He is just looking at the TV with a faint smile on his lips while brushing his feet, which rest on the recliner, against each other. Nothing about him seems threatening or dangerous. Shaking her head, she then forgets about her worries, looking at her human companion with a soft smile. Here she was, having a movie night with her alien friend. Clearly, there was no need to be scared. During the last few days, he showed more than once that he is quite the gentle-stallion -err man. A quite bold, intriguing but weird one, but a friend, nonetheless. A very good one. And Celestia was sure that for him she could be considered weird as well. Her train of thought is cut off as a rather loud bell sound is heard in all of Michael’s house. She soon realizes that this must be the doorbell. Looking towards him, she wonders why he is not answering the door. ‘R-Right. She should not be seen, she almost forgot.’ “It’s probably just some vendor trying to sell me shit.” He waves a hand dismissively towards the front door and keeps looking at the TV. Celestia then waits for a while and leans back once again. She is just about levitating a few candies into the air when the doorbell starts ringing again. This time longer and three times. Whoever was outside clearly wanted to be answered. Michael sighs in annoyance and gets up. “I’ll just take a look through the peephole.” Celestia gives him a nod, her ears standing up attentively as Michael walks towards the door. She turns down the volume of the movie and blinks a few times as Michael bends down lightly to look through the peephole. Immediately she could notice something being off from his posture. His muscles on his arms tense up firmly and she could see his legs shaking slightly. Slowly Michael turns around towards Celestia, a look of horror on his face. His eyes are open wide in shock and worry. Celestia immediately stands up and wants to walk towards the shivering form of Michael, but he makes her stop, his arms overlapped in a cross. He then heavily gestures towards upstairs. Celestia just nods at him and swiftly but silently bolts upstairs into her room while looking over her shoulder towards him in worry. “Ding doong” “Ding doong” “Ding doong” “Ding dooooooong” Michael takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a second, trying to calm down before opening the door. After two more seconds, he breathes out and opens the door. “Yea?” An in dark colours clothed figure is standing on his porch. It’s a man in his late sixties, a few scars visible on his grim face. He is wearing black shoes, dark trousers, and a blue-black vest with the ACASC logo on the chest area. On his bald head, he is wearing a black hat which is embroidered with the ACASC logo. Michael stares with a lifeless expression into the eyes of his Boss. Vogel gives him a smile and then raises his left arm a bit. He is carrying a rather hefty leathery briefcase. “Hallo Michael! How are you doing ziss vonderful friday evening? May I come inside?"