//------------------------------// // 4: Cap'n, The Ponies Are Talkin'! // Story: Space Engineers: Starship Unknown // by Stalin with Da Spoon //------------------------------// The mood within the hull of the Tigris was quite calm, the fires subsiding as they burned out of fuel and were finally extinguished by either the hulls sprinkler system or fire extinguishers. On all decks, there wasn't really that much hustle and bustle, as some of the crew were currently trying to get a couple hours of rest within their bunks, as ordered by the captain to make sure they were prepared for the hard work that could come tommorow. Other members of the crew, like Castle and Finn, who were currently on the outside of the ships hull, grinding away at loose metal wreckage and scrap that broke off the ship during it's descent crash landing, salvaging the components to use for repairs and construction. Inside, Venom and Owen were seen making some repairs within the Bridge deck, welding broken steel plates back together and reconnecting electrical wires while Captain Jack and Commander Craz walked through the halls of the ship, as Reed walked with them while examining his suits wrist screen. "Well Captain, good news is, we're getting repairs done quite efficiently, and with a good sleep our crew should be able to work better tomorrow, hopefully get a sufficient base of operations up and running." Reed said, as Craz chuckled to himself. "Yeah, everybody needs their rest, even well trained pioneers of the great unknown." Craz then slowly let out a loud yawn, stretching his arms out. "Heh, guess even I need it... Permission to hit the sack Captain?" "Permission granted, Craz, go get some sleep." Craz nodded as he stepped off into an open door leading to one of the crew bunk rooms, closing it behind him, as Jack turned to Reed. "I believe you should get some rest too, Mr. Reed." "I'll be alright sir, I've trained myself to stay up for long periods of time, especially back during my time as an administrative officer. I can handle a couple more hours of activity, and my suit should be able to keep me going with a caffeine injection." "If you say so." Jack jokingly said, lightly chuckling before his radio buzzed and he answered. "This is Higgs, me and Horza just got down repairing some of the damage to the reactor, so the energy leak is plugged and power should start to even out a bit more." "Good to hear, Higgs, keep working hard down there." As Higgs hung up on his end, another link was established. "Bash here, managed to seal the hangar doors again, so nothing can get in through the back door now. Hangar bay itself is still banged up, but nothing too major." "Excellent work, Bash. Now if you could please go help out with bridge repairs, that would be great." "Roger that." As the Captain finished speaking on the radio, he and Reed ascended up the stairwell leading to the bridge, as they entered to see Venom and Owen welding and wrenching away at several screens and displays, some consoles now properly functioning, and the window now being fully repaired as the bridge was sealed off from the outside. Captain Jack decided to take a load off his feet, as he sat down in his chair, while Reed sat down at a nearby console and started typing away. "Nothing like being stranded on an alien planet once again, eh Captain?" "Yep, just like the good old times..." Owen couldn't help but chuckle. "Honestly sir, you could make being stranded on a lava planet a fun experience." Venom slowly nodded, thinking back to the time the crew actually visited a lava planet. "Yep, when this crew's together, were unshakable. Considering all the types of shenanigans and funny moments that happen when were around, I wouldn't have it any other way honestly." "Amen, Venom. Now then, could you please me the wire bolters? I'm almost finished with repairing the weapons control terminal." Venom turned and nodded, as he grabbed one of the many tools on the ground next to him, as he tossed it to Owen, who caught it in his hand. "Thanks mate." As the two worked, Reed was busy writing logs and data manifests, as being a master of organization and logistics demanded documentation of everything. Jack was currently busy staring through the window at the now slowly rising over the horizon. He noted that the sun was moving quite more rapidly than usual, likely another trait of this strange planet. As he sat, his radio buzzed to life. "Uhhhh, cap'n?" "Yes, Castle, go ahead." "Ya might want to come out and see this... Cause either me and Finn are goin insane or... There's talkin pastel ponies out here." At the mention of those words, Jack quickly leaped out of his seat, as he turned to Reed, who nodded and got out of his seat as well. "Got it, stay where you are and wait for me and Reed." "Roger that, cap'n." Jack quickly turned to Owen and Venom, who had overheard Castle on the radio. "You two watch from the bridge and report anything un-usual." They both nodded, as Jack and Reed quickly made their way out of the bridge. Five minutes earlier, Twilight and her friends were slowly trotting along the path through the Everfree forest, peacefully walking through the dark woods, as they slowly approached a large clearing, and a strange and foreign sound began to loudly assault their ears, as they lowered them down, trying to block out the strange sound. It sounded like a griffon scraping their claws along a whiteboard, except louder, and sounding more metallic as it accompanied the clanging of metal and steel. As the party slowly approached the source of the sound, they ducked into some bushes, and slowly peeked out to see a strange, horrifying, and amazing sight. A massive metal construct stood before them, easily matching the size of Twilight's castle, as it's massive hull extended across the entire clearing. It's front appeared to be partially buried in the ground, and it was colored in a distinct red and black coloring on it's hull. Another distinct feature of the ship were a set of large letters on it's side, reading 'Tigris', likely being the unknown vessel's name. From the outside, it appeared the outer hull of the ship was quite battered and damaged, with some holes present in it's armor, light plumes of smoke rising from large fires burning on its rear end. In front of the massive wreck, a bi-pedal figure wearing a strange yellow suit with an unknown symbol on it's shoulder, with a large helmet and visor obstructing their face, wearing a large backpack, and wielding an unknown tool, was seen grinding against a large piece of steel wreckage, as sparks flew all over the place, the piece of scrap being slowly grinded down to its base components. As the unknown being grinded away, the ponies swore they could hear it... Humming an unknown tune as it worked away, ensuring it could see thanks to the lights mounted on it's helmet. "Doo doo doodly doo, salvaging, salvaging, we all love to salvage... Doo doodly doo..." As the strange creature, whom they assumed was a male, hummed away, Pinkie couldn't help but hum with it, as her friends gave her a weird look. "What, it's a nice tune!" As they continued to watch the unknown figure grind away, it soon completely ground up the piece of scrap, as it soon turned to another figure currently grinding another piece of scrap, this one wearing a green suit, and spoke to them. "Aye Finn, ya almost done over there?" "Affirmative, just finishing off this piece here." "Well hurry up, I wanna go inside the ship and catch some beauty sleep, my eyes are killing me." Finn slightly chuckled, as Castle turned back to see multiple sets of eyes staring at him, as he instinctively backed up, bringing up his grinder. "What the bloody hell!?!" The ponies reacted by stepping back in fear, as Finn overheard Castle, as he quickly ran over. "What is it, Castle?" "I swear to fuck I just saw something in the bushes..." "You sure it wasn't your imagination?" "I know it wasn't, I saw em clear as day!" "Well, why don't you go check it out?" "WHY ME!?!" "You saw em, I didn't, you should see if you actually saw something." Castle grumbled something, as he slowly approached the bush, keeping his grinder raised as he was now right in front of the bush, and slowly parted it's leaves, as he looked down to see... A group of small ponies with varying colors, some having wings, some having horns, and even a scaly lizard looking reptile. Now, Castle was about to start his confused scottish screaming, before the purple one spoke. "Greetings!" Now seeing these were TALKING mutant ponies, Castle raised his finger, as if to silence the pony, before stepping back and revealing the ponies to Finn, who promptly made a noise of pure confusion, while Castle put his hand up to his helmet and spoke into his radio. While Castle spoke on the radio, Twilight and her friends just stared at Finn, who was now next to Castle, and staring at the ponies. Fluttershy was currently shaking violently out of fear, Rainbow and Applejack were ready to punch these guys in the face if they came any closer, Rarity couldn't help but feel appalled by their suit's fashion sense, and Twilight felt a sense of bewilderment looking upon them, while Spike thought they looked like something out of a power ponies comic. Suddenly, Finn raised his hand and slowly waved at the ponies, which caused Fluttershy to promptly faint. "Uhhhh... Is she okay?" The ponies looked back to see that it was in fact Finn who was talking, as he looked at the now unconscious mare, as Twilight shrugged. "Yeah, it happens alot." "Ah. Well then, Castle, I believe we have officially gone insane, and are having a collective mental breakdown." Finn said as he turned to the other person, who had finished speaking on the radio. "Yeah, english speaking alien ponies are typically something associated with insanity." The two engineers then looked back to the ponies, as Twilight smiled at them, slowly stepping forward and extending her hoof towards them, as the engineers lightly backed up before she spoke. "Greetings... Unknown alien beings, I am princess Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, and I am pleased to welcome you to our home of Equestria!" She said with excitement in her voice, as Castle and Finn looked at each other, before Finn decided to take the initiative, and lightly shake the Princesses hoof. "Well, uhhh... Name's Finn, Redwood Industries mechanical engineer, and thank you for the uhhhh... Warm welcome, your highness." As he retraced his hand, he gestured to Castle, who briefly nodded before turning to Twilight. "Lieutenant Castle, salvage expert. Ah jeez, I'm talkin to it now..." Twilight slowly nodded, before noticing three more bi-pedal figures rapidly approaching from behind Castle and Finn, two of them wearing red suits while one wore a black suit and what appeared to be newspaper clippings on the inside of their visor as they approached. "Who are they?" "Oh, that's the Captain and crew." Castle said, as he and Finn turned to face the approaching Captain, who had brought along Reed and the woken up Craz, who spoke in an annoyed tone "Castle, you better not be hallucinating, because-" Anything else he was going to say died in his mouth as the group noticed the ponies standing behind Castle and Finn, as Jack took a step forward and looked down at Twilight, who nervously chuckled. "Castle, care to explain what the hell I'm looking at?"