“um, I'd like to go with them your highness.” The voice from the usually timid mare attracted everyponies attention as she spoke up. “That is, if you don't mind.....”
“Fluttershy dear, I have told you before, call me Celestia. And I think it would be best for you all to be nearby when he awakens.” At this, the sniffling pink mare beside her started to perk up. “Now remember Mrs Pie, when he awakens, you are to apologise, and then leave. We do not want him attempting to right what he may perceive as a wrong doing.”
“But I.....hurt.....didn't mean to.....an accident....”
“It's okay, I'm sure he is not the type to hold a grudge. Now go, wait in the infirmary for now.” They all made to leave when Celestia spoke again. “Twilight, can you stay and talk with me for a while?”
“Of course Princess.” Turning to the others, she nodded and cantered over to a table off to the side, joined by Celestia.
“Now, I know you have had 'encounters' with this creature, and I wish to know what you have learnt so far.”
Pulling out her research diary, she began from the first day. “At first we were unsure of what he was, and I had a suspicion that he was from some form of military. After recent events, I have come to the conclusion that he is, and a highly trained one at that. The fact they he randomly showed up and saved three young fillies, before getting them home, seems to indicate a high level of morals. Especially as he was injured himself. These morals, however, seem flexible. Which reminds me, how is your wing?"
“My wing will heal Twilight, what ever that was just passed through the fat, missing the muscles or anything vital. Please continue.”
“Very well. I was a little concerned that he managed to break out of my shield spell, especially as the one I used is strong enough to contain Big Mac. Remind me to tell you about that later, you'll love it. Then when he ran away and Rainbow chased him, he showed an in depth knowledge of our species, and the fact that a number of pegasi have sensitive hooves. But there is no way he could've known that Rainbow was one of these, so I think that was just luck on his part.”
“It would seem so, but we must be sure to ask him about it at some point. What else?”
“The next day, he seemed to be hungry, so he went to Sweet Apple Acres. Again, we'll have to ask him how he knew about the farm. Anyway, he went to go in to the cellar, but Winona barked at him causing Applejack to come over. Upon seeing him, she called for Big Mac, and he ran away. He managed to daze Mac. He had snuck in to the library the night before, and in this book, he had wrote down what I believe to be something of religious significance, and something else.”
She took a deep breath before continuing, sure that even this revelation would shock Celestia. “I headed down to Sweet Apple Acres to talk to Applejack about what happened, and he must have been watching, as when I returned my research diary had been opened again, and there was a book about extinct creatures open. In my diary was a flow chart of creatures from Equestria, charting the Simian era, ending with the debatable Simian-Erectus. Next to it was another chart, I believe from his world. They have simian ancestors as well, but his species split along the lines and they evolved in to, what was it again? Ah yes, 'homo-saipiens', or 'humans' for short. He also put another reference to his culture at the bottom, saying 'Don't Panic' and 'Don't forget your towel'.”
If it did shock her, Celestia didn't show it. “It would seem he was trying to distract you from following his research with these writings.”
“No, I believe they hold some meaning to him, plus he distracted me in.......other ways.”
There were three people sat around the circular table in the secure briefing facility waiting to find out why they had been summoned. They were junior ranks, so when a Admiral requests your presence, you didn't say no. Two of them had met during training, and one knew the other through a mutual friend. They had all introduced themselves, and found out that none of them knew what was going on.
The door-wall slid open, and the guards came to attention. “Room sit up!” All other military personnel in the room came to attention as well as the Admiral walked in.
“Be seated.” As he said this, the door slid shut and a light shined in the centre of the room. “I suppose you three are wondering why you are here. The short end of it is you have been chosen to go on a rescue mission with the intent of finding SAC Luckes.” There were gasps around the table as he let the name sink in. “Now you are probably wondering why two engineers and a driver have been selected, and not someone more.....qualified. The reason for this is due to the nature of where we are going.” He leaned forward in to the light so that they could see his face.
“Simon?”
“That's Admiral or sir to you, airman.” He knew with him present there were going to be lots of questions.
“Sorry sir.”
“Now on to the matter at hand. We all know Alec was near an explosion, but we do not know what type. I have been informed that some experimental equipment disappeared as well, to which it has an emergency transponder on it to signal our satellites. In the past seven days, we have completed as many sweeps as possible, and found nothing. We even asked the Americans, and the Russians, to look for the signal. They found nothing.”
One of the other two spoke up. “So.........are you saying he's on another planet sir?”
“Yes, we believe he is. And we know which planet, we're just still trying to work out how to get there. There is also another reason, that out of all his friends, you three were chosen. You, as well as I, know something about him that most others don't.” The admiral hit a intercom on his side of the table. “Dr, artefact 'alpha', if you would.”
“Yes sir.”
“Twilight Sparkle, did he hurt you?”
“No, he didn't hurt me, he just gave me a few frights. When we went to where he had stayed the first night, we found a similar outfit to his clothes, but they were also different. When I returned home after his first 'research trip', he had tied some poles together, put a mask on it and left against the wall.” Twilight looked at the floor before muttering. “The builders fixed the hole the next day.”
There was a snort from across the table and Twilight whipped her head up to find Celestia trying to stifle her giggles. Twilight just shook her head and continued. “Anyway, the second night he did the same, but this time he rigged it so that when I opened the library door, it dropped down in front of me....upside down.”
At this Celestia lost all self control and burst out laughing. She tried to speak between breaths. “My....he....sounds...like quite....the pranker.”
Twilight just gave her a flat look as she finished up. “I'm glad you find my discomfort funny. Anyway, this continued for the next month, and it grew easier to deal with, except when he put it in my bed.” This earned another snicker from across the table, but she ignored it. “I got my revenge however, just before the recent incident. It was after Pinkie's Running of the Leaves party and I had just got back to the library. The thing he had made was sitting in a chair, and it looked different but I ignored it for the time being.”
She took a few deep breaths before continuing, having never been in 'lecture mode' for so long. “Turning to the book, I was expecting to see more research but instead there was what I believe to be a song from his world, with a few words changed to fit here. Turning around, the thing had been removed and I thought Spike had done it. I was about to head to bed when something tapped me on the shoulder. Turning around I saw his eyes for the first time and I understood why Applejack said she was scared. It just stared at me before it said 'Boo', at which point I screamed....and blasted it out of the library. Hoping he wasn't injured, I ran outside just as he was getting up. He said some about it 'being awesome' and 'we have to do it again' before he ran off. Everything else that has happened you all ready know.”
“I see. I must go and have a wash now. Thank you Twilight, go join your friends.” With this they both got up and headed to different ends of the hall.
As they approached the hospital wing, Pinkie Pie was getting increasingly nervous. “What if attacks me? What if he tries to eat me? What if hmmmm!!??” A yellow hoof was slapped over her muzzle and the owners voice calmed her down.
“Pinkie, I'm sure he will accept your apology. It may just take some time for his species. Until then, stop worrying, you'll only make yourself ill, and then who would throw his 'you don't have to hide anymore' party?”
At this Pinkie perked up and nodded, catching up with the others who waited just outside his door. The guards took notice of the gathered ponies and placed their wings across the doors. “We're sorry, but no visitors at this time. He is having his dressings changed. You may wait over there.” A shake of his head and they saw a seating area, resigning themselves for the right time.
I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I could hear and feel others around me. It was like swimming on my back with my ears underwater. I could hear the voices but I couldn't comprehend them. The next time I opened my eyes, I had my full vision again, although blurred, and it was filled with orange and purple at the time.
A light shined in my left eye to check its reactions, and then I head the voice speak. “Eyesight appears to have not been damaged. It may take time to adjust. He's got a wicked scar though.” Scootaloo? Since when was she a nurse? She's only a filly. I then heard another voice, older and matronly.
“Very good. Now once Sweetie Belle has done his arm, and Applebloom his leg, we'll prop him up and do the dressings on his torso.” My leg? How did that get inj......oh, that's what hurt after falling off the balcony. Dammit Pinkie.
I continued to watch from my trance like state before a voice drew my attention. “Nurse Openheart, his eyes haven't shut like usual. I think he's awake.”
I could hear the voices but I couldn't respond. The colourful blurs then got smaller and I heard the door open and shut. Looking towards the sound I could see a white and gold blur, and a grey and gold blur. So, guards inside the room now? What did I do? I heard the door open again and could make out six blurs. I could see yellow, orange, blue, purple, white, and pink.
Being in a delirious state, my instincts told me to get away from the pink one, but as I couldn't move just yet, I only succeeded in flailing my arms at the blur. The yellow one got closer and it seemed to calm me, but as soon as it moved again my body started to panic upon seeing pink. Slowly, the colours got smaller as they disappeared one by one until I could just make out a tint of yellow. Pushing myself, I managed to speak before I slipped under again.
“Don't.....go. Your....presence....is......calming.”
The yellow blur got bigger until the only thing fighting it was the blackness, but that eventually won.
“Um, sir?”
“Yes?”
“Just what the hell is this? I recognise it, but it can't be. It's not possible.”
“I know. But let me ask you this. How long would it take to get to Mars?”
“I think it's around six months. Why?”
“We can get there in approximatively thirty two hours.”
“Sir, that's bullshit. Nothing we have can travel that fast. That's going at....”
“Two thousand, five hundred and seventy times the speed of sound. Yes, we worked that out.”
“But how?”
“New technology. Every member of this team, other than ourselves, were investigating the incident. Even though they found nothing, they all came away with ideas from......somewhere, but they didn't make sense until they got together to discuss them. You are about to see one such example.”
As the admiral said this, the light shining down seemed to harden, and they found themselves looking at holographic schematics for.......something. The admiral continued talking. “We have colour coded them so they are easier to identify. The black one is the main shell, or body if you like. The orange is a gravity manipulation system. The green is a life support system. The red is a engine system, quite capable of reaching those speeds. At predicted maximum output, we believe it could achieve three thousand times the speed of sound. The blue is a weapon system, which we have installed, but not are activating just yet.”
“Sir, these don't make any sense what so ever, I can see they have multiple layers, but still...they are just a fucking mess!”
“We thought you may say that, so watch what happens when I place them over each other.” The images blended together in to a way that made much more sense, and the scale of what they were seeing finally dawned on them.
“Sir, is that a....”
“Yes, it is a space ship. We don't know what to call it yet, but it is ready and fully tested.” He looked round at the others seated there, no doubt in his mind he had made the right choice. “All it needs is a crew.”
Comprehension finally dawned on them as they gave the admiral their full attention.
"Sir, I think I have a name for it. Giving where we are supposedly going, and who to get, I suggest we call it after his favourite."
"This is your last chance to back out. Are you all on board?" He received three nods. "Very well. Welcome to the United Kingdom Space Command. Now what do you suggest we call the UKSC-001?"
"I was thinking.......the UKSC Princess Luna."
It was dark when I awoke. I knew I was somewhere different due to the fact the bed didn't feel like a plank of wood. Gently easing myself up, I stretched out the tautness that had taken up residence in my muscles. As I stood I heard a soft snore, and searching for the source I found Fluttershy sleeping on a couch in the room. Getting a better look, I concluded that this was one of the guest rooms in the castle, and after my request Fluttershy had stayed with me.
She must have stayed till she was exhausted. I grabbed a blanket and placed it on her to keep her warm, realising who had done the same for me recently. Spotting what looked like clothes, I walked over to the side and was pleased to see underwear, jeans and a t shirt. There was even a pair of trainers on the floor. After getting dressed, I walked over to the door and opened it, expected to come face to face with some guards, but the corridor was deserted. Spying what looked like a observation platform higher up, I made my way towards the tower.
Having arrived at the top of the stairs, I found it was not just an observation platform, but being the highest tower in the castle, was also a observatory. I lost track of how long I was gazing at the amazing sky above me and the splendour of the city that sprawled out below me. I was snapped out of my trance by the door opening, and with it being the only entrance, I darted behind a curtain as I heard two ponies enter.
“Thank you for speaking with me Twilight Sparkle. I did not wish to rouse my sister from her slumber.” I've heard that voice before, but where?
“Luna, please just Twilight. And I'd take time from anything for a friend. Now what's troubling you?” Ah.
“When our 'guest' first arrived, I went in to his dreams to find out more about him. Even though he was successful in rescuing the fillies, the deaths he caused still haunted him. Without my intervention, I....I.....do not know if he would be here today.”
“But that means you helped him. Why would that trouble you?”
“After recent events, I went back in to see if I could find why he jumped instead of just giving in. The first one went as said, he enjoyed a good night with friends, and he seemed happy. I still do not know why he had clothing with my likeness on it.” Ohhh shit. That's going to be a tough one to explain. “For the next few weeks his dreams grew progressively darker.” Wait, weeks? How long was I out? ”When he came round in the follow up surgery, I hoped that he had managed to banish his demons, but when he did not reawaken, I once again entered his dreams. The only time there seemed like there was hope was when he could see the night sky.”
Being watched from behind the mirror, the female giggling, the voice calling for me when I jumped....it was all her!
“I....I can not describe the nightmare he was forced through, but with his actions he showed me how far he would go to do his duty. Do you know why he didn't stop after saving you on the garden?” Twilight looked at her and shook her head. “I believe it is because in his heart he heard that there were others needing his help. As for why he ran, you yourself saw the injuries he had sustained. He was likely not thinking straight. As for not giving in, I believe it was because he believed he still had a duty to do, and we were preventing him from it. That is why I think.......we caused the nightmares. And why we are not deserving of such a protector.”
I could hear what sounded like sniffing before I came out from behind the curtain. Twilight drew in her breath as I approached Luna. She did not release it, whether from the fact I was there or that I was once again clothed I didn't know. It did not matter.
I put my hand on Luna's cheek and turned her to look me in the eye. Hers went wide in fear until I spoke as softly as I could. “The reason I have hope at night is even though the sun brings us warmth, the night carries all our hopes and dreams, and there is a beauty and peace that not even the softest of light can ever pierce.” Her reaction was not what I was expecting.
She threw her forelegs around me and buried her head in to my shoulder whilst crying her eyes out. I caught the faintest of a whisper from her.
“I'm sorry.”