//------------------------------// // First Contact // Story: Aliens in Equestria, Part II // by knightcommander //------------------------------// CHAPTER TWO: FIRST CONTACT Despite the still racous and ongoing street party going on outside, Twilight slept peacefully. The day had been a long one; setting up for the mission and test of her engines had been long and strenuous, and it was only the many cups of coffee that she had downed that morning that kept her going during the work. Now that she knew all her hard work had payed off, she allowed herself the luxury of a good night's sleep. That is, until about three-thirty that morning, when a sudden knock disturbed her sleep. She groaned, miffed at having been woken up from a pleasant dream involving a date with her now steady coltfriend, Caramel. She fumbled for the light switch and flipped it on, stumbling out of bed, trotting groggily over to the door. She opened it and, to her surprise, one of Luna's guards was standing there. The look on his face was an urgent one. Twilight suddenly got the feeling something was terribly wrong. "Is there a problem?" She asked. "Lady Twilight," the guard said, using the formal form of address that they had used back when she lived in Canterlot, "Princess Luna requests your presence immediately." Twilight's heart skipped a beat. Had something happened to Luna, or to Celestia? Heaven forbid that something had. "Lead the way." Twilight said. The guard motioned for her to follow him, and she was led down the corridor to the main dining hall. "Um, why here?" "Princess Luna has requested your presence in this room." He said. With that, he knocked on the door. "Your Highness, Twilight Sparkle is here to see you." "Please, send her in." She said. Her tone sounded very anxious, and it got Twilight immediately worried, thinking there was a terrible emergency. The guard opened the door to reveal the moon princess standing there. Twilight was relieved to see that she was safe. "Thank goodness." She said. "You're not hurt, Luna." "No, thank heavens." Luna replied. "But there is... situation." She said. Twilight's worry returned. "What kind of situation?" She asked. "Well... see for yourself." She stepped aside so she could get a view of the dining hall table. Twilight gasped loudly at what she saw. The same uniforms. The same fox-like visages. The same flowing, beautiful language. It was them. "These....visitors showed up in the throne room this morning." Luna said. "I've never seen such beings in Equestria, or anywhere else in the world for that matter." Luna looked at them. "Twilight, the reason I brought you here is because... that one over there specifically asked for you." She said, pointing at one of them, a female with sea green eyes. "Twilight Sparkle!" She said happily. Immediately, Twilight recognized her, and her face was split by an impossibly huge grin. "Bel'aya!" She cried, galloping over and giving her a hug and a friendly nuzzle. Commander Bel'aya Lir smiled at the affectionate display. Luna, however, was wide-eyed with her mouth agape. "Twilight Sparkle, you... are familiar with this... lady?" She asked. Twilight suddenly became very self-conscience. "Well..." She sighed. No use keeping it a secret any longer. "Would it be alright if I got my friends and your sister? This sort of involves all of us." *** Celestia got the shock of her life when she saw who had shown up in the middle of the night. She was the first to arrive after being summoned, and had no idea what to make of their visitors. Twilight simply sat silent, waiting for her friends to show up. Their "guests", probably out of respect, were silent as well, except for one who identified herself as Lieutenant Kil'karin, who was busy taking notes on some kind of device that went across her fingers, like a very high tech, miniature holographic computer. Twilight also took the opportunity to introduce themselves. Luna busied herself having some coffee prepared for them. Despite their sudden appearance, she was determined to maintain decorum, even if she had no idea who these people were or what their intentions were. The serving staff were almost terrified of their visitors, which was unsurprising, but a reassuring smile from Twilight put them at ease. "It's alright, everypony." She said. "You don't have anything to fear." The servers nodded, and politely passed out steaming mugs of coffee. Lieutenant Kil'karin took a sip. "This is home grown." She said with a grin. Her two male compatriots nodded in agreement. Finally, after a seemingly unending wait, the first of her friends showed. Unsurprisingly, Pinkie nearly exploded when she saw them. "Aaaah!" She said, going into a complete spazz attack. "They came back! Oh wait till I tell all my friends!" She yipped, hopping around circles so much that they were surprised. The princesses watched with growing curiosity, and unease. What was going on here? "Oh my stars!" They heard the voice of Rarity say behind them. "Look, everypony!" "Dip me in sugar and call me a candy apple." Applejack piped up. "I don't believe it!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "This is so awesome!" Fluttershy simply ran up and wrapped her forelegs around their old friend. The other creatures began to talk among themselves in their flowing language. Luna listened to the words they spoke. She found it to be beautiful, almost poetic. Celestia was too busy to notice, as she was watching her subjects greet the... strangers like they were old friends, and her concern was mounting despite the friendliness of said strangers. She was eager to find out what was going on. "Twilight, now that we are all assembled here," she said, "could you explain what is going on here, and how you apparently know... our visitors?" She said. Twilight flashed her an apologetic smile. "OK, but I have to warn you that you may find this hard to believe." She said. Celestia simply nodded. "You see, our guests here... they're not from any country around here. In fact... they're not even from our world." She said. "Not from... our world?" Luna asked. One of the visitors, a young-looking male, brought something up on his hand device. It was a hologram of a star, much like their own sun, but surrounded by four planets. One of them bore a resemblance to Equestria. "We're from here." The male said. "This, Your Majesties, is the Altair system." He centered on the third planet. "And this is our homeworld, Altair Prime." The princesses looked at each other. They could scarcely believe what they were hearing. "You're from... another planet?" Luna asked. "But that...that's not possible." "I didn't think so, either." Twilight said. "But then, out of the blue, they came to us." She passed out some mugs of coffee before continuing. "Do you remember that letter I sent you about three years ago, where I told you about how Ponyville was experiencing strange sightings?" Celestia was the first to put two and two together. "This is them?" She asked. "The beings you told us about?" Twilight nodded. Pinkie Pie chimed in with her own story. "It all started after I saw something weird in the sky." Pinkie Pie chirped. "It looked like a spaceship, and it turns out I was right. But more on that later. And then Applejack saw an alien on her farm, and then Fluttershy saw one too, and then we went into the Everfree Forest looking for them." "Turns out they weren't too hard to find." Applejack interjected. "They had set up camp in the middle of the forest, near abouts where Zecora lives. Long story short, we panicked when one of them turned up and ran for it." "And while we were running, Scootaloo ended up falling into a ravine and injuring herself." Rainbow Dash added, her expression showing that she still clearly felt a measure of guilt over what happened. "But it turned out to be lucky for us, because that's how we ended up learning these guys are friendly." "How so?" Celestia inquired. Twilight gave Bel'aya a smile, as if to say "you tell this part". Bel'aya returned the smile. "One of my shipmates found her in the ravine." She explained. "The poor dear broke her leg in the fall, and we couldn't just leave her there, so we broke protocol and rendered aid." "Speaking of them, where are they?" Fluttershy asked. "I don't recognize of these people... no offense." "Excelsior is in drydock for repairs." She explained. "We ran into a particularly nasty group of pirates and ended up taking some damage. The ship that brought me here is HMS Observer. When I learned that they were going to your planet to conduct I survey, I talked them into taking me along as a consultant, since I had prior experience." Pinkie Pie smiled. "It was my best party ever!" She chirped. The Altarians snickered at the bouncing party pony. "So... you mean neither us nor our people any harm?" Luna asked. "You come to us in peace?" "Yes, your majesties." Lieutenant Kil'karin explained. "We've always been a peaceful species. We're not interested in conquest or warfare, but in exploration. Our travels brought us a long way to come and see your world, and now that you've broken the light barrier, we're ready to take the next step." She turned to Bel'aya, allowing her superior officer to make the formal. "By our laws and traditions," she started, "the time has now come for us to make first contact with your people, to welcome you into the greater interstellar community." She smiled. "Will you accept our friendship?" She asked, looking right into the eyes of Princess Celestia as she said. Both Princesses gazed at their guests. The look in their eyes told them everything they needed to know. In them, they saw not deceit, or trickery, or malice of any kind. All they saw was peacefulness, joy and a desire to make friends. Both princesses felt a warmth begin to arise in their hearts. It was the kind of warmth felt when one had met someone that they would be friend's with forever. How Twilight must have felt the same warmth when she finally realized she had friends. Celestia smiled serenely at Bel'aya. "On behalf of my people and all peoples in this world," she began, "I accept. I bid you welcome to the Kingdom of Equestria, my friends." There wasn't a face in the room that was not split widely by a smile. *** Towering over Equestria's northern provinces were the majestic snow-capped peaks of the famous Iron Horn Mountains. As Celestia's sun rose over the horizon, the ancient glaciers that covered the peaks began to glitter and sparkle like diamonds. The lovely scene was complimented by the lush green forests that covered the face of the mountains. It was like something that could only come out of a Hearths Warming Day card. The mountains also provided a formidable defense for those who lived on or near the foothills of the mighty mountain range, the world's largest. The hardy earth ponies who tended to the fertile soil around the mountains and labored in its mithril and gold mines were certainly tough, but on the other side was a species that was equally hardy and resilient, and very well suited to living in the rugged mountain terrain. Nestled atop the highest peak of the Iron Horns was a sprawling fortress, complete with a great stone castle set atop the very tip of the mountain. The castle was draped with brilliant red and gold banners emblazoned with a coat of arms consisting of a gold and red shield capped with a soldier's steel helmet and arching eagle wings. From the battlements of the tallest tower flew an enormous white banner trimmed with gold and bearing the emblem of a lion grasping an axe as though ready to strike down a foe. This marvelous feat of engineering was Icecrown Palace, the ancestral home of the Kings of the Griffons. The great banners indicated that His Majesty himself was at home, where the King Upon the Mountain could gaze out across his entire realm. And that was just what King Wolfgang XIV was doing at that moment. A young male barely out of his thirties, who's brilliant gold eyes stood out among his steel gray head feathers, he had inherited the throne upon the untimely death of his father, Conrad VI. The elderly griffin had been ill for some time with the dreaded consumption, and it wasn't long before the disease claimed him despite the best efforts of the finest doctors in the kingdom. Then Prince Wolfgang had barely any time to mourn before the crown was placed on his head and the leadership of an entire country was given to him. Despite this, he fit into the role perfectly, and soon the kingdom was prospering more than ever. King Wolfgang gripped the battlements of the high tower on the side overlooking the valleys below with his strong talons. His eyes scanned the lush green valley below. Although when most thought of the Griffon Kingdom they first thought of mighty Icecrown or the rich mines beneath the Iron Horns. But, he thought, the real treasure of the land was what lay behind the mountains. What it lacked in riches it more than made for in fertile soil, beautiful forests and fields, and a rich culture what was thousands of years old. Wolfgang wrapped his warm cloak around himself to keep out the perpetually cold air that was a feature of living high in the mountains. He much preferred to be down in the warm and fertile valleys with his people, but Icecrown was the only permanent residence of the Griffon Kings, and as such he was stuck there for most of the year. It won't keep me from enjoying this beautiful view, he thought as he smiled at his prospering realm from his perch on the high peak. Just he was about to fly up for a better view, a voice down below told him his longtime manservant and majordomo Ulrich Buckbeak had arrived with the morning report. "Right on schedule, as always." He said, remarking about his old friend's famous punctuality. He turned to face the black-bodied griffin, who's green eyes were framed by brilliant red eye feathers that stood in stark contrast to the pure white ones on the rest of his eagle head. The young griffin bowed as his king approached. "Your Majesty..." he began, before being cut off by Wolfgang. "Ulrich, we've been friends for how long? Twenty years?" He asked. "I think we can can the formalities for one day, don't you think?" He asked with a grin. The young majordomo smiled sheepishly. "Oh yes, I apologize old friend." Wolfgang clapped him on the shoulder. "Come, you can deliver the morning report on the way to breakfast." He said. The two old friends walked to the palace's dining room, while Ulrich delivered the morning news. There was little of note to report that morning, save for some minor labor disputes in the mines that would most likely be resolved without royal intervention. Though article proved to be quite interesting. "We also received a peculiar message from Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia." Urlich said, holding up a scroll. "The postmare who delivered it specifically instructed that it be delivered to you immediately." Wolfgang noticed the royal seal of Equestria on the scroll. "Well then, I best see what she wants." He said, taking the offered scroll. He removed the seal and unrolled the scroll. "What is this? 'Turn on the news, I will be making a very important announcement this morning'. What could this be?" Ulrich shrugged. "The ways of the ponies are a mystery to me." He remarked. Wolfgang simply rolled the message back up as they entered the grand dining room, and sat down at the elegant oaken table. Despite the limitations of living in the mountains, the modernization programs that Wolfgang and his predecessors had put in place had greatly benefited the Kingdom, bringing it on par with Equestria and beyond. This included being able to receive television signals from said land. Another servant turned on a flatscreen television and tuned it to a local news program in Equestria's northern provinces. The cameras were trained on a balcony overlooking the upper city of Canterlot from which the royal sisters traditionally made their announcements. King Wolfgang sat back and smiled. "Let's hear what our old friends have to say." He said. *** Curse this blasted heat wave, thought a lone male zebra as he trekked across the massive Jangwa Desert of the southern nation of Zebrica. A large portion of the country had been hit by a particularly nasty heat wave, and many of the desert communities had begun to suffer a drought. The sitting government was doing it's best to provide relief, but a large portion of the population was still very rural, and as a result it was slow going. Zebrica was advanced, however, and was quite capable handling any crisis that came its way. Zamun sighed with relief when his destination, a small village on the edge of where the desert met the grasslands, finally came into view. He galloped the rest of the way to the village and made a beeline for the nearest lodgings. He shook some of the desert sand off and stripped the light cloak that had shielded him from the merciless sun during his long journey. A helpful worker took his clothing to be washed for him while he sat down at a small table. Another worker brought him a much needed glass of cool water. It tasted like fine wine after a long and hot journey across the burning sands, and was relished as much. Zamun's attention was soon drawn to the fact that many of the lodgers were tuned into a broadcast from an Equestrian news service. Curious, he flagged down a worker. "Tell me, what is going on here?" He asked, pointing a forehoof at the television. "It was announced that Princess Celestia had an important announcement to make." The worker replied, taking his empty glass and replacing it with a full one. Thank goodness the drought hadn't gotten to this village, Zamun thought. His curiosity was magnified. It wasn't often that the Princess made such a global announcement. "What kind of a announcement?" He asked. The worker simply shrugged and walked off to serve another customer. Zamun sat back and watched, wondering what it was that was going on. *** Across the nation of Equestria and beyond, eyes turned to their TV sets, eager to hear what their Princess had to say to them. In Canterlot, both the lower and upper cities bustled with activity as the call went out to come and hear what Celestia had to tell her subjects. A crowd began to gather below the balcony where the Royal Sisters stood to speak to their subjects, many of the ponies still bleary eyed from the lack of sleep after the raucous celebration. Murmuring voices echoed throughout the plaza as ponies vigorously discussed whatever it was that their leaders had to say. The murmuring soon died down as a palace worker appeared on the balcony and called for silence. "Presenting, Their Royal Highnesses Princess Celestia and Luna of Equestria and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony!" He called out, stepping aside as Celestia and Luna stepped out to the balcony, their manes flowing regally in an unseen wind. Beside them trooped the six friends, bleary eyed but smiling. Their eyes sparkled with a happy energy that seemed to radiate from the center of their very being. Celestia cleared her throat before beginning to speak. "Citizens of Equestria and of all nations across the world, my friends," she said, her voice echoing to reach the ears of all assembled, "it is my great pleasure to announce that a momentous event in the history of our fair country and our fair world has occurred." She smiled, before turning the floor over to her sister. Luna smiled back before speaking to the assembled crowd. "For time immemorial, we have looked up at my night sky and wondered, is there anything else beyond those twinkling stars?" She began. "Since we first began to look upon the night sky with wonder in our eyes, we have asked ourselves if we are alone out here. We are here to tell you, my friends, that that question has at long last been answered." She said, adding a little flourish to her speech. Immediately the murmuring began again. What could their princess mean? Sitting at his breakfast table in Icecrown Palace, King Wolfgang turned a confused gaze to his old friend. "Ulrich, has she gone daft?" He asked. Ulrich shook his head. "No, old friend." He answered. "Princess Luna is perfectly fit. I honestly have no idea what she is talking about." Zamun of Zebrica was equally perplexed, as were his fellow zebras who all shrugged at each other in confusion. Zamun scratched his head. What was this all about? Back in Equestria, Luna gestured to silence the crowd. "Our test of our warp ship has attracted attention, and this night my sister and I have been visited... by beings from another world." A huge gasp echoed from the crowd at that announcement. The famous fashion model, Fleur de Lis, even fainted at the announcement. It was only the intervention of her husband that kept her from falling onto the marble. Princess Luna smiled, and then beckoned someone standing behind her to come forward. "Come." She said to them. "Greet my people." As the mystified crowd watched, the Element bearers parted, grins on their faces. Before the assembled crowd, their new friends emerged. In Icecrown, Wolfgang gaped at the TV, a bit of scrambled egg falling from his beak as his fork clattered to the floor. Zamun, who was sipping his second glass of water, almost did a classic spit take before slamming his hoof over his mouth. Bel'aya gazed out at the assembled ponies, who looked back at them with a mixture of wonder and some fear. However, a brave little pegasus colt fluttered up her and looked her dead in the eye with his own burnt orange ones. "Are you... our friends?" He asked her, loud enough that some in the crowd could hear him. Bel'aya gave the little colt a smile and nodded, reaching out to touch the little one's cheek, feeling his soft foal coat. The colt, satisfied, immediately embraced her in a warm hug. Bel'aya was taken aback by the sudden gesture, but it didn't last long and she returned the hug with equal warmth. Whatever fear there might have been in the crowd evaporated at this heartwarming gesture by their visitors, replaced only by wonder. Twilight took a look at her mentor and her sister, beaming. "Success?" She asked. Luna looked at Celestia, who only nodded to her. "Success." They both said.