//------------------------------// // Incarceration // Story: Operation Final Destiny // by Armguard //------------------------------// ~ Chapter 3: Incarceration ~ ...why...did it end this way? Did I...not do enough? They all...need me to succeed. ...Jonah. I must get back to the ship. If there is even a small chance I can get it repaired, I need to figure out how. I'm not doing this for my sake, this is for all of humanity. Time to get up-urgh! HMM. What?! At that moment, my body and vision gradually returned, granting me nominal awareness of my surroundings; I felt some sort of restraint wrapped over my chest and legs. It was a pair of belts keeping me planted on a raised marble slab, coupled with smaller straps preventing my arms from being raised. My cast remained intact, with my arm bent, pointing to the sky; this situation was certainly unfavorable. This was an incarceration. I could only conclude that firing my M1911 is what convinced them that restraining me was a prudent plan of action. How they will decide to deal with an alien on their world is a complete unknown; however, I cannot risk failing my mission. This is a habitable world at least, so I can maintain a record of its location and... what am I saying? These horses...ponies, whatever, wouldn't submit to being occupied by another race so easily. I have to get off of this world somehow...huh? "Why did you approach it, Twilight? You had no idea what kind of danger you were in!" "But Princess Celestia, I-" "I never want you to risk yourself like that unless it is absolutely necessary. Now I have a slew of bureaucrats demanding why I canceled all of my appointments today! This could have caused a major incident had we not reacted to your letter in time. YOU COULD HAVE DIED." Voices. Someone is coming into the room. "Who is there?!" "Princess, he's awake!" The last thing I could remember was being back at the ship, confronted by an impossible talking horse. A brilliant light struck my eyes before collapsing to the ground and going unconscious. My vision has not fully restored yet, but from what I can tell, there were two new presences in the room, one taller than the other. The mumblings I heard weren't clear, but that last voice was similar to the one I heard from that talking- "HORSE!" After seeing the purple unicorn again, my body wanted to shoot straight up from my resting position, only to be restrained by the same belt that was wrapped around my chest and legs. I was tied down to a platform inside of a bright, marble chamber, likely a holding area for people like me. I incessantly shouted demands for release, all of which were flatly ignored by the equestrian captors standing around me. "Let me go, now! I need to get out of here!" One of the horses, an immaculate unicorn (or was it a pegasus?) with wings hovered over my body, searing my eyes with a furious stare. "You endanger one of my ponies, who offered you peace, and you expect me to release you?! You are mistaken! I have no idea what kind of creature you are, but you will not threaten my little ponies again." I can't be blamed for this; who does she think she is?! "You have no grounds to detain me, none of you! I was defending myself from a threat on my life!" What a freakish predicament I'm in: talking horses holding me hostage on a world far, far away from my Solar System. This is unreal. "Then what is this, that you so foolishly used to threaten my subjects with?!" She levitated my M1911 above my body, looking at it with dumb curiosity. Problem: she was pointing it right at me! "NO NO NO, DON'T FIRE! POINT IT AWAY, PLEASE! PLEEEASE!" I kept sobbing, praying inside that she couldn't figure out how to use my handgun. Hearing my emotional pleas, the white unicorn-pegasus hybrid quickly moved the Colt away from me and sat it somewhere outside of my field of vision. After my sobbing subsided, she approached me again for interrogation. "That weapon that you fear so much...you directed toward my student, Twilight. Do you deny it?" The purple unicorn, is that horse's name 'Twilight'? Her 'student'? What nonsense is this? What else could I say? "I...do not deny it. But it is for my protection, nothing more, I promise you." "You say it is for your protection, but what reason would Twilight have to harm you?" I continued my defense. "I have never met any of you before, and you all have those horns and can generate magical barriers. How do I know you can't use those for offense, too?" My vision began to improve, and it was then I pieced together a full picture of my 'detention officer'. The flying unicorn's flowing, sparkling mane captured my full attention. She also wore a golden diadem encrusted with a amethyst gemstone, and her neck piece bore a similarly hued gemstone on it. She's a leader in this world. No wonder I'm receiving an unwelcome barrage of questions! "I assure you, Twilight nor anyone in this room intends to harm you. But you will disclose your purpose for landing your ship in Equestria, immediately." Thinking about how to respond for a few seconds, I decided to barter for comfort. Being forced to rot on a slab of rock is not pleasant, by any means. "Your Highness, I won't be answering anymore questions until you remove these restraints and allow me to stand up. My arm isn't in the best shape right now, and it would-" The royal unicorn slammed her hoof to the floor. "Absolutely not. You will give your answer as you are, or remain in this position until you decide to speak. Regardless, we will learn the truth; either by your words, or inside your vessel." NO. They can't go into my ship, or they'll find... "Fine...I will disclose my mission to you. Every word of this is the truth, and it is your choice to believe it or not." I began to dive into general detail what I have been doing for the past six months, traveling from my home planet, Earth, to the outer edge of our Solar System. The mission was to investigate candidate planets for a new human colony, to both ensure our people's survival, and ease the burden on our planet's resources and make it a viable home again. I described the human species to her, and the diversity of societies that exist in my home. Finally, she learned about my experience traveling into the event horizon of the now-traversable wormhole, and the subsequent crash landing onto the surface of the planet. Once again, I placed emphasis on the true purpose for my mission, and that was to find a new home for my race to colonize and survive. "So you see, Your Highness, I cannot fail my people. They all depend on me to find a suitable new home on which to survive beyond the impending death of our current one." I could see her face in deep thought about my story. She turned to look back at me, her face losing the solemn countenance she had maintained during questioning. "Though I question the 'how' you arrived in Equestria, I do not question your honesty. I will grant you your request." The leader channeled some sort of energy into her horn, like the purple unicorn did earlier. It was a shimmering golden color that wrapped around the straps holding my entire body down, releasing the restraints. I rose into a seated position on the platform, getting a full look at the ponies that detained me. The one who questioned me was enormous! Her back probably stood a good 7 feet from the ground, not counting her head. Twilight, the purple unicorn, stood just short of eye-level with me; it wasn't very likely that I intimidated them at all. I slid off the platform and onto my feet, unprepared for the vibration up my body from the drop. My left arm cast shook and sent a shot of pain up my arm. I winced and gripped my cast arm, stopping it from moving. Twilight looked concerned and approached my left side, examining the cast. "How did you hurt yourself?" "After the crash, I must have fallen pretty hard on top of it. A bone broke and dislocated from my wrist, and I had to surgically repair it." She jumped back, wide-eyed with amazement. "Surgery?! By yourself?! That's insane!" "No no no. You see, there was..." Why am I talking so candidly to her? I have a job to do. "Listen, its more complicated than that. I really need to get back to my ship before-" As I was walking towards the weapon, my face met a golden barrier erected to keep me from taking it. "Ow! Hey, that's my handgun, my protection. You can't expect me to leave without it!" The leader shook her head and addressed me. "You may not leave this room until we are completely certain you are not a threat to our land. That 'handgun' was used, self-defense or not, to target one of my subjects. I-" The white unicorn suddenly turned her attention to the door, and in walked a midnight blue unicorn with wings, wearing similar regalia as her counterpart ruler. Looking into her mane reminded me of the interminable months spent out in deep space, staring at the galaxies and stars. I finally noticed that all three of the unicorns possessed images on their backsides. The darker blue one wore a crescent moon with a black sky, the white one wore a yellow sun with orange rays, and the purple one wore a six-pointed star with smaller, sparkling stars at each vertex. "Princess Luna. Thank you for being here on such short notice, sister." As she marched into the room, I received a look mixed with curiosity and shock that the other two ponies had not given me before. Princess Luna looked at her sister with disbelief. "Celestia, we did not expect you to call on us to participate in studying a newly discovered species. Did you not say 'this' was an emergency?" She motioned her hoof directly at me. Princess Celestia, as I learned the white unicorn was called, sunk her head down. "It is an emergency. This creature threatened the life of my student in self-defense, and I wish to know if he is indeed a threat to us. We need you to 'dream walk' and confirm his intent." Dream walk?! What are they scheming? "Celestia, to dream walk for the purpose of interrogation? This is not typical of you, sister. What is it that you wish to know?" Princess Celestia turned away from everyone and approached one of the windows in the room. She stared out into the countryside and sighed. "Luna, I just need you to confirm whether or not he is a threat. The rest you will understand once you enter his mind." No way, I won't allow them to invade my thoughts! Done with this. I took the chance when they removed their focus on me to leap for my handgun, and pointed it in the direction of my three captors. Twilight stared at me and shouted. "Princess, he has his weapon!" Princess Celestia shot around, Princess Luna turned to face me, and all three channeled their magic. This isn't good. How can I expect to leave when I'm trapped here against my will by three unicorns ready to blow me to bits? I can't leave by force, can I? But... My defensive posture quickly faded, and I placed the handgun on the perch it sat on. The magic from the unicorns faded as well, and all three surrounded me, not appearing angry, but concerned. I decided to just give up. "I don't know what to do. I'm alone, and I need help. I know that now, but-" The one named Celestia spoke up. "Like I stated earlier, we do not intend to harm you, but we are not above defending ourselves from a threat. If you really want us to trust what you say, submit to Luna's test." I felt quite the opposite. "I do not want her diving into my deepest, most personal thoughts! That's an invasion of privacy that I cannot tolerate." Princess Luna placed a hoof on my shoulder, at first causing me to jerk away, but her next statement eased my distress. "...I will only require the memories of your travel to this world. I intend to look at nothing else while in your dream world. Please trust me, so that we can trust you." I need to continue my mission. If...earning their trust is the only way to leave, then... "Okay. I will submit to your test." Princess Celestia and Twilight breathed sighs of relief as I lay down on the platform again. My cast stayed in its awkward and angled position next to me, pointed to the sky. Princess Luna enveloped me with a dark blue aura, as I fell into a very deep slumber. "The Intragalactic Space and Astronautics Coalition is pleased to announce our representative for humanity's last hope. The name of the astronaut being sent to investigate the stars beyond our Solar System: our Lead AI Systems Developer and astronaut, Tom! Please sound out your applause, ladies and gentlemen." I was peering into a memory, from my point of view. "This is Director Kent at the project completion ceremony, the last day I spent on Earth before being launched into space. Why am I-" "Because you are in control of what you see, not I." The memory faded out, and Princess Luna faded in from beyond the white void of my consciousness. "Princess, you are saying I can choose what to show you?" Princess Luna nodded. "Yes...Tom, was it? Now I know what to call you. Progress is being made." How much should I even show her? So far, I can be considered nothing but threatening to these...ponies. What if they- "I can feel your anxiety and I hear your thoughts. You are not one I would consider a threat. However, please understand that our society has experienced great trials for over two years, threats that make you ignorant of the circumstances surrounding your detention." The princess stood beside me, gazing into the dreamscape, speaking again. "During my return as a co-ruler of Equestria, I have been privy to the nature of dreams once again. In the past, I have lived and breathed the nightmarish terrors of those with malice in their hearts, those who wished nothing but harm on other citizens of my domain. Even I was one such being..." She looked away from the void and shut her eyes, the expanse around us set ablaze. We were inside of a throne room that once glimmered with crystals, gems, and marble; it had been transformed into a derelict seat of sovereign power, the ashes of its glory being constantly reproduced by the flames. A battle was taking place between who I recognized as Princess Celestia, and a darker, sinister equal. Celestia fought the evil, fighting back a flood of tears as the nightmare viciously assaulted her mark. Princess Luna clenched her eyelids shut, shuddering as her next words were spoken. "Nightmare Moon, that vile creature you see fighting my sister...was my creation. My nightmarish terror. My dreams. I was imprisoned for one thousands years for my role in destroying the lives of countless ponies across the domain I swore to defend and nurture. I..." The terrifying scene quickly wiped away into the familiar blankness from a minute ago. After she opened her eyes, I placed a hand on her shoulder, causing the princess to turn her head in surprise and face me. "You trust me with this much of your heart, and for that, I must apologize to you. The urgency of my task is...well, pretty urgent. But I will give you the best opportunity possible to trust me, I owe that to you now." A faint smile escaped Princess Luna's mouth as we both walked forward, moving toward another memory locked safely in my mind. This time, it was about 2 months into the trip, and we had just passed beyond the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. I was sitting on the bridge of the Destiny, humming and singing another classic as I consumed my lunch rations for the day. Oh no...Princess Luna, this memory, we can't...we need to move on to another one. Luna's thoughts echoed in my mind. Once you select a memory, your brain must pursue it to a logical conclusion. Whatever the context is, you must remain in it until it is over; or else your mind may suffer irreversible injury. Crap. I can't do this... " ♪ No where maaan, please listen. You don't knooow, what you're missin'! No where maaan, the world is at your command- ♪ " RED ALERT. STRAY ASTEROID BELT OBJECTS APPROACHING AT HYPERSONIC SPEEDS. BRACE FOR IMPACT. "CRAP. Computer, initiate emergency subroutine #3, evade! Confirm." EVASION CONFIRMED. CHANCE OF SUCCESS 15%. "Take it, we have to protect the ship! Call him up to the brid-" *CRASH* I saw my body launched forward as my face smacked the steel floor, eliciting a cry of pain. The bridge lighting darkened, and dozens of indicators were flashing a combination of red and yellow. "Computer, status report, now!" HULL SUFFERED CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE IN QUADRANT 2. MAGNETIC SHIELDING DISRUPTION HAS OCCURRED. CONTAMINATION CONTAINED IN SAME. "Computer, where is Jonah currently located? Where IS he?!" FUSION ENGINE CONTROL, QUADRANT 2. JONAH IS IN CONTAMINATED AREA, IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION NECESSARY. "Lead the way!" I watched as my past self rushed down numerous corridors in a frenzy, searching for his injured companion. Jonah was this man's co-pilot through a good portion of the journey through the Solar System. However, neither thought the possibility of something like a rogue asteroid colliding with the craft would ever occur. The computer should anticipate most, if not, all potential threats way before they happen. Tom found himself standing in front of the Fusion Reactor doors with a 'hazmat' suit, ready to rush in, grab his buddy, and take him out. What he saw next... "JONAH! Where are you?" He turned to his right, only to see Jonah collapsed on the floor, struggling for breath. "...*gasp*...T...Tom." Jonah wheezed heavily and spat out blood that collected in the back of his throat. "Get up, we need you in the medical bay immediately." I carried him out of the Fusion Reactor chamber and, walking towards a separate room on the same level, took an elevator directly to the medical bay. As I lay him on the operating table, the computer performed a full digital scan of his body, internal organs, and radiation levels on the surface as well as inside of him. PATIENT BOMBARDED WITH RADIATION DUE TO BRIEF HULL EXPOSURE. TRAUMA TO CRANIUM ALSO DETECTED. RADIATION POISONING UNTREATABLE ON-SITE. MISSION ABOR- "No...computer..." Jonah hardly had the energy, but rebuked the computer. "This mission...continues..." "Jonah, I can't let you die out here, we-" Jonah immediately grabbed my arm, squeezing it tighter and tighter. "Listen to me. Lung capsule, place me in sus-*cough*-pended animation cell. Finish our mission...I won't even notice it." "But...oh, is there another way?!" I knew there was no other way. If I waited too long, the cancerous cells would reproduce fast enough to destroy him. Suspended animation would extend his lifespan considerably, giving us just enough time to collect sufficient data. I placed him in the chamber, placed his oxygen mask on, and secured all the harnesses before shutting the cell door. Just before I activated the suspension, he said one last thing to me. "I'm scared, Tom...but it doesn't matter. No matter what happens to me, keep going! We have no choice but to succeed. Find those worlds, then bring us home. Promise me." Through tears, I gave him a smile and entered the command in the keypad, placing him in suspended animation. His heart rate slowed, and his lungs began to clear. His life was left completely in my hands. I promise, Jonah. I promise. Princess Luna, please get us out of here...