//------------------------------// // Unexpected // Story: Beyond This Galaxy Of Ours // by bronystrongwing //------------------------------// Max lays in his bed, his Omni-tool powered on and playing an archived recording. "...I'll see you later, I love you." it repeatedly said. The man lets loose a sigh as he finally sits up. He walks to the door to the hall. The sun is just beginning to rise over the horizon. "...I'll see you later, I love you." He walks down the empty halls, searching. He turns a corner and sees a pair of guards walking in his direction. The same two from before. 'What were their names?' he thinks to himself. The grey one says something, but he doesn't hear it. "...I'll see you later, I love you." The pegasus and unicorn's heads turn towards his arm and look at the Omni-tool. The blue one speaks now. Still, he hears no voice. His mind doesn't care for anything except for that one voice. "...I'll see you later, I love you." He walks past the two ponies, towards a glass door leading to the garden. The two follow him, worried. "...I'll see you later, I love you." "What's going on Max?" Flashpoint asks as they approach a pond, their friend silent save for his breathing and the constant repeating of the odd phrase. The human stops at the pond and sits down, his Omni-tool still lit up and playing his favorite, and only, message. 'There we are...' Max thinks to himself. "Hey Max! You okay?" Strongwing shouts, uncertain of the importance of the event or the message. "Can you hear me?" he says as he waves his hoof in front of his face. 'Hoof. Wait, hoof?' He finally snaps out of it, blinking and looking around. He opened and closed his mouth several times before settling on keeping it shut. "...I'll see you later, I love you." He turns his head to face his still active Omni-tool. Pressing a few buttons, it shuts off, disappearing from his arm. "There we go. Now, what were you doing?" "I, uh, I was looking for one of these." He points to the pond weakly. "Pinnam and I would have a picnic by one whenever we weren't on job." He turns toward the door he entered as Sharpfeather walks past. She notices the group and decides to join them. "Hey guys, what's going on?" She asks, unaware of the situation. Soon after she asks she sees the tired and depressed look plastered on the human's face. "Whoa, are you okay?" Max allows a grin as he answers. "It's that bad, huh? I was just telling these two about my old girlfriend, Pinnam. She was a turian, like Samdon." "'old'? What happened?" Flashpoint asks. "Did you two split up or something?" Max shook his head, his smile wavering for a moment. "No, no, it's not that. She, uh, she passed away, along with another two friends. On the day we were supposed to get married." The eyes of all three ponies widened. Finally, after a long moment of shocked and depressed silence, Strongwing speaks up. "Max, I--" Before he could finish speaking, another guard walks through the glass door. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but the princesses wish to speak with you and the other two." Max stands up and dusts himself off. "Alright, I'll go talk with them right now. Oh, and thanks for getting me out of that awkward situation." Ignoring the stallion's confused face, he continues. "Where're the princesses at?" "They are waiting in the Throne room." And with that, the guard left. Max starts walking towards the door when Sharpfeather speaks. "Hey, Max, if you ever need to talk, please, we're here to talk to you." She says, a caring tone scaling every word. The man turns and gives the trio a warm smile. "Thanks, I'll remember that." ------ Later, Throne room ------ The three mercs enter the large room, curious as to what the princesses wish to talk about. "Ah, you've arrived, now we can speak of the most recent event." Princess Celestia says, keeping her neutral expression, but an ounce of sorrow escapes through her tone. An ounce that Aldiv catches. "I suspect something terrible has happened?" the salarian asks. All present turn to him, surprised by his estimation. After a moment, Celestia regains her composure. "Yes, another ship from your world has crashed. This time it landed in griffin territory. When they investigated, they discovered two corpses. One of a blue being, similar to build as you, Max, and a large creature that walked on four legs. We were hoping you could help us determine a way of putting them to rest." "Sounds like an asari and an elcor. Best thing to do is to bury them, find coffins that would fit them, have a ceremony, you know, the standard thing." Samdon says. "It would've been nice to have some more company, but it looks like we'll have to wait for that." Luna clears her throat to get the three's attention. "Max, may I speak with you, privately?" The night princess says. "Sure." He says as the two walk towards the hall as the others keep speaking. "So, what's up Night light?" "Another one of your nicknames, I presume? Anyway, I wish to apologize for being so rude to you when you first arrived. I've just been extremely paranoid, what with the recent invasion and--" "Wait, invasion? What invasion? If there's someone threatening your land, I'd need to know." Max says, his temper slightly rising. "Relax, the changelings have been pushed back, and thanks to recent negotiations, we've reached an understanding. As I was saying, I'm really sorry for everything that I've done. Will you forgive me?" "It's alright. So, would you consider me a friend now?" He asks. A smile crosses Luna's face. "Yes, I would. Now then, let's join the others to continue discuss recent happenings." ------ Meanwhile, Ponyville ------ "Oh, come on Twilight! It's been a few days since we've seen those aliens, you've gotta be a little curious." Rainbow Dash says, hovering midair of the library. "Of course I'm curious, but I'm not just going to drop everything to go to Canterlot." The purple unicorn says, busy organizing a pile of books. "Fine then, if you're not going, I'll just go myself!" The cyan mare says before flying out a nearby window, eager to meet the strange beings from events prior.