Transformers: Deep Space Exploration Team

by TcogArchitect


Chapter Four: Meet the Family

Published November 27th, 2012
Chapter four: Meet the Family

He followed them all the way to the edge of the woods, not wanting to leave them to fend for themselves if the Decepticons, or one of the dangerous-looking animals they had disguised themselves as, decided they wanted to do some late-night hunting. When they approached the edge of the forest, Dark Lance could hear worried voices in the distance. It soon became apparent that the voices were calling Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. When they finally cleared the last of the trees, Dark Lance could see six ponies of various colors hurriedly looking around and listening for sounds of answer, when their ears spun around, followed quickly by the rest of their heads as he and the Cutie Mark Crusaders revealed themselves from the foliage. Two of them, a white unicorn with purple mane and tail and an orange-colored earth pony with a cowgirl hat, raced over in front of the others. The orange one slowed down as she saw that the fillies were unharmed, and with an escort, but the unicorn didn't seem to notice, and if she did, she certainly didn't care.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle, thank goodness you're safe," she said, giving the two-toned unicorn a hug. "Where have you been? You were supposed to be back over an hour ago!" She looked at the filly, tears of relief welling up in her eyes.

"It's alright, Rarity, we were just meeting some new friends," she explained to the pony Dark Lance assumed was her sister.

"So we can see," said another, purple, unicorn as the rest caught up. "Thanks for bringing them back, we were really worried."

"I wasn't," argued a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. "After all, Scootaloo was with them, and if she plans on being as awesome as me one day, then she shouldn't have any problem with anything in that forest." The purple unicorn shot her a glare, before turning back to Dark Lance with a smile.

"Anyway, let us introduce ourselves. I'm Twilight Sparkle," she said, puffing her chest out slightly with pride. Dark Lance could tell she was a student, but also that she was very intelligent, from the way she enunciated her words carefully, but quickly. "I'm the personal student of Princess Celestia, so if you want to know anything, I'm sure I can help you." She smiled widely.

^Personal student of royalty? She must be ridiculously skilled in order to have that kind of status. She probably knows more about this world than the rest of them put together, so I should keep her in mind if anything comes up.^ he thought to himself, already mentally practicing how he should get in contact with her.

"My name is Rarity," the first unicorn said, "and let me thank you right now for bringing back my sister. I know she can be a hoof-full, but she's really a good girl." Dark Lance cocked his head slightly in surprise as she said "hoof-full", but it made sense to him that they would use the term "hoof" instead of "hand", since they didn't have hands. He also noticed the careful, deliberate way she talked, indicating that she put a lot of effort into how others saw her. Her expertly groomed mane and tail cemented this idea quite firmly into his memory banks.

^She probably has a job in the textile industry here. That could be useful.^

The orange pony was the next to approach him. "Ah'm Applejack, Apple Bloom's big sister," she said with the same accent as the filly. "Our family owns Sweet Apple Acres, the farm on the edge of town," she explained, confirming his suspicion that Apple Bloom lived on a farm.

^If we need money for something, we may be able to get jobs there. I'll have to find out about the local currency, though.^

Suddenly, a pink pony with a dark pink, fluffy mane and tail popped up in front of him. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" she nearly shouted at him, smiling happily. Dark Lance knew right away that she was going to be like this every time he saw her. "What's your name?"

"Dark Lance," he said simply.

^Oh, dear. She's one of those types that doesn't ever stop talking, isn't she? Bunker is going to have some serious issues keeping his cool around her.^

"Cool name," the cyan pegasus from earlier replied, hovering a few inches above his head, "but not as cool as mine: Rainbow Dash!" she said, with a bit more pride than was necessary, he thought. He also noticed Scootaloo looking at her with wide eyes and a big smile, realizing that Rainbow Dash was probably the pony she had been thinking of when she called herself "second-coolest". He decided not to mention it, though, as he suddenly realized something.

"Wasn't there one more of you?" he asked, sure that there had been six previously. The others looked around for a moment, and Twilight took a step to her left, revealing a scared, pale yellow pegasus with a long, pink mane and tail. She eeped in fright, curling herself up tighter to try and hide behind her mane. "Are you alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned that he had done something to frighten her.

"B-B-Behind you!" she stuttered. Dark Lance spun around, expecting at least one of the forms the Decepticons had taken to be directly behind him, ready to pounce. Instead, he saw nothing but forest. He then became aware of a light pressure on his left front leg, and looked down to see a snake latched on to him with its teeth. He lifted his leg up to inspect the reptile and turned around.

"Is this what had you so worked up?" he said, hoping it was.

"Omigoodness!" the pegasus said, running up to him. "Are you okay? Let me see." She then grabbed the snake with her hooves, and pulled it off of his leg, tossing it into the brush before looking at where it had been attached to him. He wondered for a moment how she had done that, since hooves weren't particularly dexterous. The fact that she was suddenly not scared of the snake also baffled him, since she had just been using one of her friends to hide from it. She suddenly hummed in thought. "That's odd, I could have sworn it bit into you. But I can't find any wound marks." She sounded very confused.

"And this is Fluttershy," Twilight said, introducing her distracted friend for her. Fluttershy blushed hard, realizing what she had just done.

"I'm so sorry mister Lance, I just got so worked up when I saw that snake, I forgot what we were doing." She looked like she wanted to hide behind her friends again, as she took a step back.

"It's alright," he smiled at her, not wanting to worry her further.

"Hold on a second..." Rainbow Dash interrupted, moving to Dark Lance's side. "How come you don't have a cutie mark?"

"A what?" he asked, worry beginning to form in his processor as he realized that there was apparently a major flaw in his disguise.

"A cutie mark? You know, the thing that every foal gets by the time they grow up, symbolizing their special talent?" He then noticed the images on the back legs of each of the six adults. Teletraan six had not shown him anything like that when he saw the holograms, and Burnout had apparently not come across the term during her time in town. He shook his head, painfully aware of his mistake. Something that important to the culture would definitely cause problems with his disguise.

"How can a pony not have a cutie mark?" Twilight asked, looking like she was deep in thought.

Fortunately, he didn't have to answer, because Apple Bloom did it for him.

"He told us he wasn't actually a pony, he just looks like one."

The others looked to him in shock. "You aren't a Changeling, are you?" Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously. ^That's the second time today,^ Dark Lance thought. ^What are these 'Changelings' they keep talking about?^ He also became aware that it was getting hard to see, due to the sun having set, so he decided to end the conversation quickly.

"I do not believe that these Changelings are anything like me, but its dark out, and I need to get back to my team. How about we continue this tomorrow morning? I believe you have a library of some sort?" The crusaders let out a disappointed "Awww..." before the others could respond.

"Alright," Twilight said, after thinking for a moment. "We'll meet at the library tomorrow morning, and we can introduce ourselves properly. Is everypony alright with that?" She looked around, and got nods of agreement from her friends. "Alright then, see you tomorrow!" She said excitedly. Dark Lance waved goodbye, then turned around to head back into the forest. There was a gasp behind him, and Rarity ran to stop his path.

"You aren't actually thinking of going in there now, are you?" she asked incredulously.

"Um, yes?" he answered, not understanding why this was such a big deal. It seemed like a regular old forest to him.

"But there's all kinds of animals in there that could eat you right up!" she replied, a look of concern covering her face.

He looked at the leg which had had the snake attached to it not that long ago. He didn't feel any pain, and it looked just fine. Unsurprising, considering he was made of metal. "I think I'll be alright, but thanks for the concern." he said, stepping around her.

"Are ya sure ya'll will be alright?" Applejack questioned.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," he said, smiling. "I don't think I'll have any problem getting back." He waved one last time before disappearing into the trees.