“Mommy!” Lyra screamed, the metal monster approaching her and her dad forgotten as she stared at her mother’s unmoving body. A loud noise came from the device the other held over Mandy, producing a red beam of light that left Mandy’s face burned and charred.
Lyra and Les Paul were still for a few moments, looking on towards the earth pony’s body, hoping with all their might that what they suspected may have happened hadn’t. But in their pause, it was all too easy to see that Mandy was no longer breathing. Some of her mane caught fire from the wound’s heat, but was quickly smothered by the rising desert breeze.
There was no doubt about it: Mandy had been killed. Right there in front of her family, Mandy’s life had been snuffed without any hesitation from the metal beasts. They truly were monsters.
Tears welled up in Lyra’s eyes, watching as her mother’s corpse was carelessly slung over the shoulder of the monster that had murdered her. The cruelty didn’t let up there, though, as the remaining Heartstrings were herded further away from Appleoosa and into the open desert.
Les Paul followed with no resistance after that, his hollow expression cast directly in front of him, zoning the rest of the world out. The winds continued to pick up, but he refused to even blink, even as grains of sand brushed across his eyes.
Conversely, Lyra was a wreck, tears openly streaming down her cheeks, leaving trails where sand mixed with tears before quickly drying in the oppressive desert heat. Her mourning, though, was stifled under fear of meeting the same grisly fate of her mother. Her eyes were clenched tightly shut so as to spare them the punishment that the growing winds were bound to deliver.
The winds around them became more harsh the further into the desert the group went, slowly evolving into a full-blown sandstorm. But the machines were as relentless as the winds, pushing the ponies further despite the risks to their well-being.
In addition to her emotional suffering, Lyra quickly found herself suffering physically. Small grains of sand whipped around and into her, stinging her with sharp pains on contact. Thousands of such impacts bombarded both her and Les Paul every second, threatening to rip up their coats. Already this was happening to Mandy’s corpse, as gashes began to appear and tear through the deceased skin.
Visibility was low, and it was some time before, faintly, in the distance, a silhouette could be made out on a nearby dune. At their distance, it resembled little more than a rectangle, but as the group neared, more details became visible.
A small metal house would have been the best way to describe what it looked like to the two ponies, elevated on a few little shafts sticking into the sand. Windows surrounded one end of the rectangular frame while several large, cylindrical tubes jutted out of the other. Four arm-like appendages with claws on the ends were folded against the approximate center of the frame, two on each side. All in all, it was something the like of which no pony had ever seen.
As they all closed in on the strange thing, one of its walls opened up, raising up to allow a view of the interior while a ramp descended into sand, providing access. A figure was present at the top of the ramp, but due to the sand blowing around, it was mostly obscured from view.
“Catch somethin’ for me, did’ja?” the figure called to the two metal creatures in a gravelly, grouchy voice, only faintly audible over the now raging winds. “Bring ‘em on board, quickly now.”
Lyra and her father were shepherded up the ramp and into the hull of the alien machine. It proved an obstruction for the blowing dust, and the nearer they got, the more they could see, until finally things were clear, and they could see the previously silhouetted figure.
If it were standing, it wouldn’t have been much taller than Les Paul, but as it was, it was holding itself aloft with a pair of undersized looking wings, which flapped furiously to keep the rather bulgy alien above the ground. It had a pair of short legs and webbed feet beneath its generous pot belly, which looked even bigger compared to the creature’s relatively long and skinny arms. A short trunk, like an extremely miniature version of an elephant’s, came out of the thing’s upper lip, and its underbite revealed a pair of tiny tusks that came to rest on either side of its trunk.
Unlike the metal monsters that had brought Lyra and Les Paul there, this thing wasn’t metal, but was instead flesh, like them. Its skin was mostly a dark purple shade, except for its chin, belly, and the underside of its arms, which were a beige color.
Atop its head was a cap not unlike the kind that Wonderbolts would wear, complete with a set of goggles that were currently hanging around its neck. Additionally, it wore a dark brown vest over its body and a belt adorned with various alien tools around its midsection.
“Hmm, what is it’ja’ve brought me, eh?” the creature, presumably male by the tone of its voice, asked its metal counterparts curiously when Lyra and her father were finally inside, the interior of which resembled a normal house quite accurately, save for the fact that everything looked metallic and highly futuristic. “A couple’a healthy specimens, methinks,” he said, flapping closer and humming thoughtfully as he more closely inspected his spoils.
Les Paul looked up at his captor, meeting the curious gaze of the alien with a empty, sullen look of his own. “It looks upset,” the alien declared, looking up to his counterparts. When the alien noticed Mandy’s corpse, he made his way over to the machine holding it. “It wouldn’ be ‘cause’ja killed this’n, would it?” it scolded, to which the machine responded in its strange language. The alien seemed to understand it perfectly, though. “I don’t care if it was self defense! You’re a droid; ain’t no way these things’d get’chu!” the alien shouted, evidently mad. “I told you ta bring me live specimens, and ‘ere you are bringin’ a dead one aboard my ship!”
The droid, as it was now known to be called, replied with another series of odd beeps. “You stupid piece of scrap! Family units only fetch more when they’re not dead! Dump the body, then I’m goin’ ta ‘ave yer chassis disassembled for parts.”
“You’re not even going to bury her!?” Lyra spoke up, astonished that this thing could be so utterly uncaring and disrespectful.
“Ah, so they can talk?” the alien, said, tone immediately shifting from enraged to intrigued as he moved his attention to them. “Yes, I’ll be burying ‘er,” he answered with a devious chuckle. “Deserts ‘ave a way of coverin’ up evidence, eh.” Speaking to the droids again, he said, “Drop ‘er an’ let’s get outta ‘ere.”
The droid obeyed, dumping Mandy’s corpse into the sand just beside the ramp, then shifted Lyra’s and Les Paul’s things, which it had picked up and carried while its companion had led the ponies to the ship, on its back before reentering. Once fully inside, it flipped a switch next to the open doorway, which slowly retracted everything.
With a hiss, the doorway closed, trapping the ponies in their new prison and sealing them away from Equestria, potentially forever.
With the door now closed, the sounds from outside were muffled significantly, and the alien sighed contentedly. “Ah, that’s better.” He was only like that a moment before reverting his attention back to his droids. “Now, 86-L, go an’ recharge yourself; you did good work today.” 86-L left as commanded, going to a different part of the ship and out of sight. Moving to the other one, the one carrying the ponies’ things, the alien said, “As for you, 86-H, your defective programming was a poor investment on my part.” He reached for a small round device and a wrench-like tool from his belt. “I’m goin’ ta put on this restraining bolt; you’re goin’ ta drop those items off on the table over there, then you’re goin’ ta shut yourself down next to L, understand?” The droid replied with a single beep. “Good; at least there are some commands you can follow.”
86-H did as instructed, walking over to a nearby table and dropping off Lyra’s and Les Paul’s possessions before clanking out of sight, going the same way 86-L had. “Stupid droids,” the alien grumbled under its breath once 86-H was gone, then flew to where the ponies’ things had been deposited and began to rummage through it. “IG-86; claimed to be the best on the market! Hmm, but only for killing, it seems; looks like the vendor who sold me that faulty unit’s goin’ ta ‘ave a chat with HK when I get back to Coruscant.”
It was evident that the alien was mumbling to itself, and Lyra took the opportunity to get closer to her dad, who was staring at the closed door, and had been since Mandy was tossed out. Somehow, she had found the resolve to reign in her emotions for the time being, but Les Paul apparently hadn’t. Without saying anything, she got beside him and hugged him tightly. It seemed odd to her that she was the one offering comfort.
“Dad,” she whispered. “Do you know what’s going on? And do you know what’s going to happen?”
Finally, Les Paul moved, returning his daughter’s embrace. “No, Lyra,” he said shakily. He continued weakly. “No, I don’t know. Just...know that I love you, okay? Whatever comes to pass, know that you mean everything to me.”
“I know, dad; I love you too. But I’m scared.” She clenched tighter. “I want mommy back.”
“I know you do,” came the response, but it was the alien that answered. Setting down Lyra’s lyre, which he had been fiddling with, he turned to face his catch. “I’m sorry that this ‘appened; truly, I am. I don’t like to kill when I don’ ‘ave to, but sometimes my droids just don’ agree; they get a little trigger ‘appy, eh. But don’ you worry! That droid’s goin’ to get what’s comin’ for ‘im.”
Les Paul seemed to break out of his stupor —or, at least he became aware of the world around him again, though his expression was no less hollow. “Sir,” he said, addressing the alien, “I don’t know what my family or I have done to deserve whatever punishment you’re treating us to, but at the very least, could you tell us what’s going on, and why you’re doing this?”
“Hmm, yes, of course,” he replied, with cheerfulness unbefitting the situation. “What kind’a Toydarian would I be ta be so inconsiderate, eh? Let me get the ‘yperdrive started and the autopilot set, then I’ll be ready to answer your questions. Please,” the alien gestured to the few seats scattered around the roomy ship interior, “make yourselves at ‘ome.” And then he left to do as he said he would, which was to set the ship for takeoff.
“How kind of him to abduct us, but at least offer seating,” Lyra muttered as she and her father each took one of the offered seats. Her hope was that her joke would lighten the mood and lessen her stress. It didn’t.
Suddenly, the whole ship shuddered violently for a second, causing both unsuspecting ponies to jump. “Ah, sorry ‘bout that,” echoed from elsewhere in the ship. “Engines‘re choked with sand, it’d seem. Simple fix; cover yer ears, though.”
They did as instructed, and not a second later, loud roaring sounded from behind them, and the entirety of the ship vibrated. The alien made a brief reappearance as he passed through, only to leave to a different part of the ship, all the while, the roaring didn’t let up.
For about another minute, nothing seemed to change. But then, unexpectedly, the roaring quieted while, at the same time, the ship lurched. The ponies were thrown off balance for a second, but managed to stay on their seats. After that, the two ponies found themselves beings pushed into their seats, almost as if they were...moving?
They were moving!?
For a reason that Lyra couldn’t place, she felt the urge to leap out of her seat and go...anywhere, really. Anywhere but where this ship was going to be taking her. But as she landed on the floor, the ship’s shaking and vibrating made balance hard to find, and she eventually was shaken to the floor.
The voice of the alien sounded over some sort of intercom. “If I were either of you, I’d sit in my seat and find somethin’ to brace yourself against. The sandstorm’s making it ‘mpossible ta get off the ground with just the autopilot, so I’m goin’ to have to manually fly us out of the atmosphere ‘fore autopilot can be activated. And I can tell you now, my flyin’ ain’t no smooth sailin’.”
Heeding the alien’s advice, Les Paul latched onto the arm of his seat with a vice grip, Lyra following suit once she finally managed to crawl back over and onto her seat. The ship continued to rattle, and they could feel themselves begin to go horizontal, quickly finding themselves lying on their seats rather than sitting in them. The volume of the roaring also began to increase as they progressed, such so that it was on the brink of being overwhelming. In fact, everything was reaching that limit: the noise, the shaking, the absurdity of their situation…
And then it stopped. Well, the first two did, at least. Suddenly, the roaring became naught but a quiet hum, and the shaking halted completely. No longer did it feel as though they were sideways, either, instead feeling as though they had levelled out. Each of the ponies sighed in relief as their quickly beating hearts began to calm down.
They didn’t know it, but they had finally gotten off-world.
They didn’t know it, but they were the farthest any pony had ever been from home.