1
Celestia and Luna were walking quickly down the corridors of the castle, once again making their way to where the creature was being kept. The news about a new development in the research of the creature lifted their spirits, and had gotten them curious as to what Alpha Bone had discovered. After they had traversed the castle and the dungeons, they met with Alpha Bone.
"Mr. Bone, I was told, you have discovered something?" Celestia asked, walking into the large room.
"Yes, Princess. I believe you will find this most intriguing." Alpha Bone replied.
"What have you found?"
"We have an approximation of this being's age."
Celestia thought for a moment. "What is this approximation?" she asked.
"Twelve-hundred years, your majesty."
Luna and Celestia were silent. "Twelve-hundred?" Celestia whispered. "How did you come up with this?"
"Field Dust found an old cave painting that closely resembles this creature. Though, you may need to look closely." he said grabbing the field journal. He placed it back on the table. "Here, take a look." he said calling them over. Celestia and Luna walked to where Alpha Bone was standing. They looked down at the picture containing a red stick figure style painting. "Do you see it?"
Celestia continued to study the picture and thought long and hard about what was being shown. "It's possible, I suppose, but it's too vague. Do you have any other proof as to what this creature could be?" Celestia asked, the now much disappointed Alpha Bone.
"Inside that box was a picture. It's rather worn and dirty, but it also heralded an interesting conclusion."
"And that would be?" Luna asked, expectantly.
"There were three creatures in the photo. One was terribly blotted out from the decay of the photo but the other two were in better condition. Field Dust said that their physical structure appeared to be similar, and the two creatures we could easily see had what looked like skin on their bodies."
"No fur?" Celestia asked.
"Only on their heads it looked like." he sighed and looked at the Princesses. "Princesses, this creature could herald in a new era of scientific discovery and understanding of our world. For all we know there could be more like this one out there somewhere, and this could be the first of a few, hundreds, or even thousands of creatures similar to this one or the ones portrayed in the picture. Please, I must be allowed to make this public." he said, pleadingly.
Celestia looked the biologist. "I know your excited but if word of what this, I suppose the word here would be Alien, were to spread it could cause a mass panic. Ponies could get the idea that there is an invasion coming or something completely absurd." Celestia wore a stern look on her face. "I'm sorry but you will have to make do with this."
"I understand." Alpha responded, sadly. "Unfortunately, this is all we could come up with. All of our other efforts have been fruitless."
"What about the box?" Luna asked quickly.
"What about it?"
"Can you close it?"
"No, but I don't see where you’re going with this."
"That's a piece of its technology, have you considered the possibility that it would have some significance in telling you where this type of creature is in terms of technological advancements?" Luna asked.
"Luna? How did you come up with all that?" Celestia asked, bewildered.
"I have my moments." Luna responded, proudly.
"No, I hadn't thought about it." Alpha Bone thought for a while and turned his attention to the other three ponies in the room. "Hey Gene Splice!" The deep green Unicorn looked up from his work. "Do you still have the whereabouts of your friend Bulk Steel?"
"Sure, he works over in Baltimare at the Applied Sciences Lab. What about him?"
"Would it be possible for him to analyze that box the Princess managed to retrieve from the creature?"
"Possibly, he works with more construction type equipment and transportation but I don't see why we couldn't try."
"Good, send this to him with a letter explaining the situation, if you would."
"Alright." Gene Splice picked up a piece of parchment and a pen and scribbled a quick note and attached the flattened metal box to it. His horn lit up and with a flash of green light the parchment and box were gone. "It should be there now."
"Excellent, you may return to what you were doing."
"About that." Alpha Bone looked up again at his colleague. "I managed to grab a blood sample from its arm before they chained it up completely, and found something in it that will most definitely interest you."
"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Alpha Bone asked, somewhat vehemently.
"I had to be sure of what I was seeing, now I am." he said, defensively.
Alpha Bone and the Princesses walked over to Gene Splice's microscope and took a turn looking through the eye piece.
"This is astounding." Alpha Bone said, before the Princesses could take a look. "What are they?"
"I have no idea. I've been a Geneticist and Cytologist for forty years and the only thing I can see that's close to a pony's blood anatomy are the red and white blood cells."
Alpha Bone moved out of the way and let the Princesses each look at the small blood sample. "What am I looking at?" Celestia asked.
"The creature contains not only red blood cells and white blood cells but a third type of blood cell that I've never seen before."
"What can you make of it, Mr. Splice?"
"All I can tell you is that it appears to bolster the effectiveness of the other cells. Increased oxygen flow and heightened immune responses. These cells look nothing like the others, they have small appendages in the front that look like small clamps and they can move under their own power. I've never seen anything like it."
"Strange." she said, thinking. "How do you know that they bolster immune responses?" Celestia asked, giving Luna a turn on the microscope.
"They ate my needle." Gene Splice simply stated.
"What?" Luna asked, looking up from the microscope, and holding back a laugh.
"Nothing happened when I took the sample, at least I didn't think so. Only when I put the sample on the slide was I able to see that that third cell had amassed a small group of about three-hundred and they were eating my needle. By the time I gotten my needle away from the slide, half of it was gone."
"Incredible." Celestia stated. "They don't harm the cells in its blood?"
"No, Princess. It appears that they work with the host, not against it."
"A type of cell that bolsters the host's immune responses and helps the host and doesn't hurt them." Celestia thought for a while about what implications this could have in medicine. "What happens if these cells are put into a different host?"
Gene Splice looked over to a corner of the dungeon holding cell. "See for yourself, Princess." Celestia looked over to where Gene Splice was pointing and looked it in horror. There in the corner was the remains of a rat. All that was left of it was the skeleton and a few pieces of skin.
"How many CC's was that?"
"Two CC's of blood from the subject."
"How much blood did you take from it?"
"Four CC's"
"And under the microscope?"
"The last remaining two CC's"
"I want it preserved. I want to study it myself. This could lessen Fluttershy's recovery from the surgeries."
"Of course, Princess."
Celestia had been too caught up in the discoveries of the scientists to notice that Field Dust was not there. "Where is Field Dust?"
"Sleeping, as always." Alpha Bone replied, not surprised at Field Dust's sleeping habits.
"It's almost eleven in the morning."
"I know."
"Guard, please go and wake up Miss Dust and ask her to come down here." Celestia ordered. The guard wore a nervous look on his face. "Is there a problem?"
"No, Princess. Right away." He galloped off quickly.
A short time later he returned with an angry Field Dust behind him. This time Field Dust had groomed herself and she didn't look like the mess she was the day before. Field Dust held her angry expression until she saw the Princesses standing in the room.
"Princesses." she said, bowing. "What is it you need?"
"I would like to know about the picture you took of the cave painting."
"Why are you interested in that?"
"I want to know if the creature in the photo is indeed the one on the wall. That's all."
"Okay." Field Dust went over and grabbed her field journal and opened it to the page containing the picture she needed. "Alpha, hold this." she commanded, shoving the field journal at him. Alpha Bone grudgingly took it and held it with his mouth. "Good, now stand there." Alpha Bone stood where Field Dust had pointed. "If you were to compare the two side by side, they begin to look strikingly similar. Though the cave painting is much less detailed."
"It was done in Red?" Luna asked, as she looked at the picture. "If I remember right, most cave paintings were done with a black charcoal type material." Luna asked.
"That's why this one is unique. It was done in a red ink like substance."
"Where was this?" Celestia asked.
"The Southern side of Liber Mountain, where my site is located. That's why I'm excavating there. Ever since I found that painting I'm sure that there's something hidden in that mountain or in a chamber somewhere around it."
As they talked with each other a red flash of light appeared, a parchment and the flat metal box lay on the table. Gene Splice levitated the scroll to himself and opened it. He read it while the others watched.
"He's stumped also. The most he could give me was that based on what I described, which wasn't much, this box is far more advanced than Pony technology."
"Did he say by how long?" Luna asked.
Gene Splice skimmed it looking for an answer. "Ah, here it is. He says that it's more advanced by, from his best estimate, a couple thousand years, maybe more." he stated with shock.
The group was silent for a time while they took in the news and let it register in their minds. "A couple thousand years, and the Alien is twelve-hundred years old?" Celestia whispered. "That would make its species older than me, and this specimen would be only a few years older than Luna." The rest of the group were astonished at the Princess' words.
"So this thing is older than I am?" Luna asked.
"It would appear so."
"I wish it would just wake up and tell us where it came from!" Luna shouted, angrily. The chains rustled but were not heard. "I would have really like to know." she complained.
"Princess! It's moving!" a guardspony yelled, backing away quickly.
The Princesses and the rest looked over to the chained body and watched it closely. Celestia began to have doubts until she heard the chains rustle. The lifeless organs in its chest began to move faster until they were operating at their normal rate. Volos' body began to squirm and his arms and legs moved as much as they were able under the chains.
"It's alive, it's alive! Wonderful!" Alpha Bone cheered.
Volos' eyes re-lit with their red glow and he roared in anger at being chained and continued to struggle. He looked around the room growling and struggling to get free. The Princesses and all of the scientists backed up to get as far away from it as possible. Even the guardsponies were becoming more and more frightened by the second. He roared again and pulled hard on his chains. The chains began to creak and stretch. Celestia, on reflex from over many years of battle experience, shot a reinforcement spell to solidify the chains even more, to resist the strain.
Volos roared, the chains were no longer going with his movements and he was held in place. Eventually Volos had calmed down enough for them to approach. Alpha Bone was the first there. He looked at, the now living, Volos in complete awe.
"So beautiful. A new species of animal, thought dead, now alive and right in front of my face." He studied how the three organs worked together to keep such a large creature alive. "Fascinating."
"What is?" Celestia asked, nervously at seeing Volos alive.
"These organs are working almost one-hundred times faster than the normal Pony heart, or lungs."
Volos stopped struggling after a while and just hung there, breathing heavily. Gene Splice came over to examine Volos further. He used his magic to get a better look at his circulatory system, now that it was working normally.
"His circulatory system is much the same as any mammal's. Lungs oxygenate the blood, muscle fibers use oxygen and so forth." he explained. "It's really quite amazing, this creature's bodily functions are similar to a pony's in almost every way. The only difference is that, I can't find a stomach, liver or any other organs."
"Curious." Celestia spoke up. "It's time for me to lower the sun, all of you can retire for the night." she told the scientists, who all nodded in agreement. "Luna, come on. You need to raise the moon."
"What about that?" she asked, pointing to Volos.
"He will remain under guard as always" she stated, firmly. “Now we need to do our royal duty."
"Of course sister."
The Princesses and the large team of scientists all left the chamber and went to their respective places, while the guards remained posted outside the doors and inside the cell.
2
Luna waited until Celestia had gone to bed and had fallen asleep before going on a private excursion to the dungeons. As she approached the cell, the guards looked at her suspiciously.
"Please, let me through. I wish to see the alien." she told them.
"Of course, Princess." he responded, not wanting to contend with a Princess. He opened the door to the holding cell and Luna made her way in.
She walked up to the bound Volos and stopped a few feet from him. "I've seen you before." she said. "In my nightmares. From the moment you arrived in our world I've been able to sense your presence but no other pony has been able too." she stated, sadly. "You know what that's like don't you? To be all alone on a strange world." she looked at his emotionless face. "I'm sure you do." she hovered up to Volos' face, raised a hoof and touched his metal cheek. "To be so similar yet so different. I know how much it hurts. I too was a stranger to this world not long ago. I was banished to the moon one-thousand and three years ago and have only just begun to earn my subjects trust back." she began to cry. "It was so hard to be away from home for a thousand years. I had missed so much and lost one-thousand years of my life. I will never get those back!" she yelled. Luna calmed herself down and wiped away her tears. "You're a good listener, I've been holding all of this back for so long. I wish you could talk, I would very much like to have had a conversation with you." she said, now smiling a little. "I know you’re not a monster, or a threat." this caused the guards to change from their sympathetic looks, from hearing Luna's grief, to one of astonishment and disbelief. "I saw it in your eyes that night. The night you stabbed me. I saw pain, so much pain. Do you hurt after taking a life?" Volos did not move or even look at the princess. He made a whining sound and remained still. "I guess that means yes." She touched her horn to his head.
Her horn reacted and she went wide eyed. She tried to pull back from him but the magic kept arcing from her horn and to his body. She screamed as her magic left her body. The guards were already running to her aid when an explosion of magic erupted from Volos and launched Luna backwards. The guards went to pick up the downed Princess, who simply waved them off.
"I am alright, don't worry." she said, getting up from the ground. She looked at Volos who had magical energies warping around his body. She looked on as it finally dissipated and Volos looked as though nothing had hit him. "My magic it reacted to him? How? I didn't cast a spell." she said amazed. "As of right now," she looked at all of the guards, "that never happened. Agreed?"
"Yes, Princess." the responded in disciplined unity.
"Good." She turned and left the dungeons and went up to her room. Weariness suddenly overcame her and she collapsed onto her bed, being thrown into sleep.
3
Pain, she felt pain. Luna tried to move but was restrained. She looked around and saw a great many Aliens surrounding her. She looked on them in horror. Some had bulging round green eyes with no pupils, while others had strange masks that covered their faces. Some of them held devices attached to wires or tubes. She tried to move again but could not. She felt it, searing pain. She screamed. The creatures did not flinch. they continued to do what they were doing. She watched as another brought over a pair of surgical scissors and lowered himself over her exposed body. She felt it again, pain. She screamed more but it still did not phase the creatures around her. The creatures continued their operations. Luna could only watch and feel her body ache. She heard something click and a saw a small flash of light. She felt nothing. She was cold, and her eyes slowly closed as she could no longer feel the pain.
Luna shot up from her bed and felt herself over. She was sweating and her throat stung. Had she actually been screaming? Luna heard the frantic sounds of ponies running through the halls and the sounds of loud knocking and bashing at the door. Eventually the door gave way to Celestia, her back hooves crashing down onto Luna's blue tiled floor.
"What happened?!" she asked, concerned but filled with anger.
"Bad dream, it was only a dream." Luna sighed.
"You fell asleep? It's night time. You're supposed to be nocturnal." she said, concerned. Celestia walked over to where her sister sat. "Leave us, all of you." she commanded, prompting all the servants and guards to vacate immediately. "Another nightmare?" Luna nodded. "Did it involve our "friend" in the dungeons?" Again, Luna nodded. "What was it about?"
"I...I'm not sure. There were numerous aliens around me, they all looked different but had similar physical shape." she began. "Celestia, I went down and saw it on my own." she confessed.
"What?" she asked, disbelieving. "Why would you do that? What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, just talked to it a little bit." she half-lied. Celestia looked at Luna with surprise. "I touched my horn to it and my magic went haywire. I had no control over it, my magic just kept zapping it. When it had finally stopped, I came up here I felt really tired all of the sudden and I was asleep."
"That's when the nightmare came, wasn't it?"
"Yes, but I think it was the alien's."
"What was the Alien's?"
"The nightmare, I think it was a memory that was transferred to me when my magic was out of my control."
"One if it's memories?"
"Yes. Sister, I could feel everything, all the things that happened in that short instance, everything. I wouldn't' wish that amount of pain onto anypony, not even things not from here." Celestia wrapped Luna in her hooves. "I'm surprised that it still wants to live after all of that. It was short to me but to that creature it could have been much longer, days or even months of such terrible physical pain."
"Luna, I can't stop your nightmares and I can't stop what's happening, but I can be here for you when you need me." Celestia said, a caring tone in her voice.
"Thank you." Luna cried.