//------------------------------// // Chapter 03 // Story: Second Contact // by SpartanD014 //------------------------------// CHAPTER 3 In the span of about an hour and a half, Adam’s day had gone from seemingly normal, to so strange he almost couldn’t wrap his head around it. After he returned the purple horse to her friends, he had closed the door and activated the Pelican’s active camouflage module. Fortunately, it ran on a different power source that was isolated from the rest of the systems. He had briefly considered using that to power up his ship, but soon realized that he had no tools to complete this action, and it was unlikely that the generator would supply enough power anyway. Adam sat down in one of the seats in the troop compartment, and got to work on repairing his armor. He hit the neck seal on his helmet, and slowly pulled it off. Once it was off, he ran a gloved hand through his short, dark brown hair. He turned the helmet so that its visor was facing him, and assessed the damage. The helmet boasted several new dents, and one of the lights was broken, but by far the worst of the damage was the large crack running right down the middle. As long as that crack was there, he would lose access to many of his suits core systems. Adam began mentally recalling everything he knew about the visor. It was the weakest part of the helmet, and in the event that it was broken, it could be taken out and replaced. Standing up, Adam opened up one of the ceiling panels and took out a supply box. He always kept spare parts with him, whether for his MJOLNIR armor, his weapons, or a piece of the Pelican. He opened the supply box, and inside saw several armor abilities, a couple of hardware upgrades for his suit, and two spare visors. After he took a visor, Adam took his pick of armor abilities. He figured that, because he was on an alien planet, active camouflage would be useful. He also took an auto sentry to put on guard outside, and a hardlight shield. Adam closed the supply box and put it back into the ceiling compartment, then set to work on removing his own visor. He released the clamps on the sides, and it fell to the floor in two pieces. Adam then placed the new visor into the clamps, closed them, and begin to initialize it. Initialization would take several minutes, so Adam decided he should go outside and assess the damage to his Pelican. He deactivated the cloak, opened the back hatch, and stepped outside. The body of the alien beast was still there, and upon further inspection, Adam thought he recognized it from somewhere… Adam shook the thought off for now, and continued with his inspection of the dropship, to see how long it would be before he could leave this world. The starboard engine pod had completely blown out, and was likely irreparable with his current tools. All other ventral engines had burned out in his last ditch effort to slow himself down, so that eliminated a vertical takeoff. He inspected the main forward thrusters, and found them to be in surprisingly good condition. However, the forest was too thick here to be turned into a launch strip for horizontal takeoff. Even if he could clear out enough trees for a runway, it was unlikely that the mini reactor was still functional. Adam then realized that even if he was able to fulfill all of the criteria for a successful takeoff, where would he go? What remained of Lightning was probably smashed to pieces on that moon, and the frigate had been in fairly deep space when they had their unexpected drop-out. His inspection finished, Adam walked back inside of the Pelican, closed the hatch, activated the cloak, and checked on his helmet. The visor initialization was finished, and ready to use. Adam slipped the comfortable helmet back on, and entered the cockpit to check systems there. When Spike woke up, he, as expected, found Twilight’s bed empty. She always woke up early on Wednesdays, and thankfully allowed him to sleep in. Spike sat up in his bed, yawning, and then stood up. He exited the bedroom and slowly walked down the stairs into the main room. While there was no sign of Twilight, he did see her astronomy book lying on the couch, and a half-empty cup of coffee set on the end table. Curious, Spike wandered into the kitchen, and found it was devoid of life as well. Figuring she had just gone out with her friends, Spike wandered back into the main room and set to work on his daily chores. He had almost completed dusting the “R” bookshelf when the door opened. Spike turned around and saw Rainbow Dash walk in, followed by Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack, who was carrying Twilight on her back. Nervously, Spike jumped down from the shelf and ran over to Applejack. “What happened!?” he asked anxiously. The five ponies exchanged nervous glances back and forth, and Rainbow Dash stepped forward. “We were in the Everfree when Twilight, um…,” she began. She looked back to the other four ponies for help, and Rarity stepped forward. “She was hit by a manticore in the Everfree forest, dear,” Rarity finished. The two ponies stepped back, and Applejack walked over to the couch and carefully set Twilight down on it. Spike began to nervously curl his claws into fists, and tears began to form in his eyes. Fluttershy noticed this, and quickly ran forwards. “Oh, don’t worry Spike, she’s going to be all right!” Fluttershy said, attempting to comfort the dragon. Spike simply choked down his tears, and walked over to the couch where Twilight was sleeping. When he got closer, he noticed strange bandages were wrapped around her torso. Curiously, he turned around to face the ponies. “Who healed her?” Spike asked. The five ponies nervously looked at one another again, before Applejack stepped forward. “Zecora,” she said nervously. “We ran as quickly as we could to her house and she fixed Twilight right up!” The dragon looked at her, almost disbelievingly. Applejack forced a smile and looked back and forth, before the dragon shrugged. “Okay… good…” he said, walking back to Twilight’s side. Occasionally she would twitch, or scrunch up her muzzle. Spike sat down next to her on the couch, and the other five mares took places around the rest of the library. Just then, Spike felt a warm feeling in his chest, and the need to burp. He opened his mouth, and a burst of dragon flame came out, with a letter following, which dropped to the floor. Spike bent down and nervously picked it up. He turned it over, and on one side was the golden royal seal of Princess Celestia. EARLIER THAT DAY… Princess Luna’s quarters had remained undisturbed for the duration of her trip, as her guards had been commanded to keep it. As soon as the lunar diarch rematerialized in the center of her room, she sprinted for the door, and blew it open with her magic. Outside, her guards turned around in terror, only to be forced to move out of the way by the large alicorn. She stormed down the hall, and quickly made her way to the dining hall, where Celestia was having breakfast with the two representatives from Canterlot’s science committee. She ran towards the large doors, frightening the two solar guards on duty, and once again, blew them open with her magic. Inside, as she expected, Celestia and the two scientists were eating breakfast. As soon as Luna entered, they all looked up in surprise at the intrusion. Once Celestia noticed it was her sister, a warm smile came across her face. “Luna, I’m so glad you decided to join us,” she said. “Please, si-“ “Sister!” Luna interrupted. “We must speak! It is urgent!” Princess Celestia’s expression grew stern, and she stood up, and exited the room with Luna. She closed the doors, and dismissed the two guards. Once they were out of sight, she spoke. “What is it, Luna?” Celestia asked anxiously. “I-,” Luna stopped herself to choose her words. She did not want to reveal to her sister that she had in fact been seeking solitude on the moon, the place of her banishment. Rather, she came up with a short lie. “I was eating in my room, when I felt… a disturbance, on the moon,” Luna continued. “I left to investigate, and…” Luna faltered, unsure of how to describe exactly what she had seen. “What is it, sister? You can tell me,” Celestia said, wrapping a large wing around her sister. “I do not know exactly how to describe it…” Luna began. “It was a large metal construct, travelling at incredible speeds. It impacted upon the moon, near the Sea of Harmony.” At this, Celestia’s face grew troubled. “What did you do then?” she asked. “I was about to go investigate, but chose to come and tell you first,” Luna replied. Celestia smiled. “That was good of you,” she said. “What else happened?” Luna thought back to the whole event. Other than the giant metal contraption hurtling at her moon, nothing else seemed odd… except the piece of debris that overshot the moon! Luna’s eyes widened. “A piece of debris from the construct was heading for the moon, when it suddenly changed course! It began to head here!” Celestia’s face grew troubled again. She reached out with her magic to see if she could detect anything odd. There were no results. It must not have reached our gravity well yet, she thought. “I would like to see this construct,” Celestia decided. Luna nodded, and lit up her horn. A moment later, they both disappeared from the hallway. Celestia opened her eyes, and was met with the sight of the dull, cratered moon. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Celestia looked over to her sister. Luna was staring intently in the opposite direction at something. Celestia turned around, and soon saw what her sister was staring at. Just a kilometer away laid the massive smoking remains of a large metal contraption. Surprisingly, it still seemed to be primarily intact, though the front looked as though it was missing something. Still, many features were warped or bent out of shape, but Celestia did notice that one side of whatever it was had a large white eagle emblazoned on it, with the letters “U N S C” inscribed into the center. Underneath it read “FFG-818”. Celestia did not know what it meant, but it was clear that this was no invention of ponykind. “Come,” Celestia said to Luna. “We must explore it, to see that it is-“ Celestia was cut off as she felt a disturbance back home. Luna looked up as well, surprised, so Celestia assumed that she felt the same thing. They exchanged glances, and with one spark of her horn, Luna sent the two to Celestia’s bed chambers. Immediately, the solar princess used her magic to call up a large map of Equestria. Their two sets of eyes scanned the map, looking for anomalies. Both of them found it at the same time, in the area neither of them wanted it to be: the Everfree Forest. Celestia sent the apparition of the map away, and sat down on her hind legs, letting out a sigh. She looked up to her sister, who seemed very troubled as well. Had the strange object landed anywhere but the Everfree, both of them would have had instant access to knowing what it was. But because of the strangely chaotic magical anomalies that surrounded and thrived in the Everfree forest, they were both totally cut off. Just then, a thought came to Celestia’s mind. Using her magic, she levitated a quill and piece of parchment off of her desk, and brought them over to her. Luna eyed her, confused, until finally she understood what she was doing. “Are you sure it is safe to send in your student and her friends?” Luna asked. Celestia was already writing at a very fast pace. “My student and her friends have saved this land four times now from some of the most dangerous forces that reside here,” Celestia said, still writing. “I have the utmost confidence in their abilities.” Luna nodded, realizing that her sister was right. If anypony could solve this mystery, it was the Elements. Finishing her note, Celestia rolled the scroll up tightly and sealed it tight. She lit her horn and sent the letter away with a flash of dragon flame. With her job done, Celestia walked over to her bedroom door. When Luna did not follow, she turned around. “Coming, sister?” she asked. “We still have to finish our meeting.” Luna sighed, and stood up to follow her sister out of the room. With Twilight incapacitated, Spike took it upon himself to open and read the letter from Princess Celestia. He broke the seal, and unfurled the scroll. His green eyes began to skim over the rather lengthy letter, and as he progressed into the text, his expression changed from one of confusion to one of fear. After a few more moments, he lowered the scroll to his lap and looked at the ponies, confused and afraid. The five ponies looked around at one another, clearly hiding something. And then Spike spoke… “Just what were you doing in the Everfree?” he asked. The ponies continued to exchange glances, and Applejack bit her lip so hard that a small trickle of blood began to flow. She seemed so close to bursting and telling Spike everything, but before she could open her mouth, Fluttershy jumped forward. “Oh I’m sorry Spike!” she yelled, embracing the small dragon. “We were investigate something, and she was hurt!” Spike pushed away from Fluttershy, betrayed. Spike looked at the five ponies once again. “Tell me everything.” Twilight awoke to a very painful headache, and a sharp pain in her chest. Her eyelids fluttered open, and in her blurry vision she saw Spike sitting next to her on the couch, deep in thought. Across from him was Fluttershy, who seemed to be telling him something. She was clearly upset, and her other four friends were behind her, occasionally nodding. Rainbow Dash spared a glance in Twilight’s direction, and saw that her eyes were open. Dash yelled something, interrupting Fluttershy and prompting all of the ponies (and dragon) to look at her. A look of relief flooded over Spike, and he began speaking to her. Twilight could not make out anything, there was only a dull ringing in her ears. She shook her head violently, and slowly her hearing returned. “-o glad you’re okay!” she heard Spike finishing. Twilight looked at the dragon and smiled. “Hello, Spike,” she said weakly. She tried standing up, but found that she could not move. She looked down and saw that there was a long tube completely covering her torso. Written on it was “UNSC Medical Body Splint”. Underneath that was some smaller writing that she could not make out. Confused, she looked up at her pony friends. “What happened?” she asked. Fluttershy stepped forward and recounted the tale of her being hit by the manticore, the strange metal creature taking her into its object, and coming out with her almost fully healed. Twilight was honestly surprised; she had no idea what this creature was, they had never met, and yet, it had saved her life. Twilight looked around once more, and spotted a letter from Princess Celestia discarded on the floor. “What’s that?” she said. She tried picking it up with her magic, but as soon as she lit up her horn, her headache went a hundred times worse. She let out a scream, and dropped the scroll in mid-air. Fluttershy ran to Twilight’s side. “Oh, are you okay?” said the yellow Pegasus. Twilight nodded. “Yes, I just have a headache…” Twilight said. “I guess I’ll have to hold off on the magic… What does the letter say?” At this, Spike perked up. “Princess Celestia sent it while you were still unconscious,” he began. “It was talking about some strange anomaly in the Everfree forest, one that she wanted you to go check out.” “Well, consider that a task completed…” Twilight laughed. “Have you replied?” “No dear, we wanted to wait for you,” Rarity replied. “Thanks,” Twilight said. “Spike, could you get a piece of parchment and a quill?” Spike stood up and walked over to a table by the wall. He took out a piece of parchment, and dipped a quill in the inkwell. He stood by, pen at the ready. “Dear Princess Celestia,” Twilight began. “I apologize for my delay in replying to you, but I believe that my explanation should more than suffice. I saw this anomaly of which you spoke. In fact, I saw it fall right over Ponyville and heard it crash. I gathered up my friends and we all went to investigate. It was here that we found a strange metal object smoking in the forest. We found a door and went inside, where we found a very odd metal creature. I said ‘Hello’, but it did not reply. It was at this time that a manticore happened upon us. I tried using my magic against it but was… incapacitated. From what my friends tell me, the metal creature… killed… the manticore, dressed my wounds, and then returned me to my friends. As they left the clearing where the object crashed, Rainbow Dash reports that she heard an odd noise, and when she turned to look at the object, she saw it had disappeared. I will wait for your next request. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike signed off on the letter, rolled it up, sealed it, and sent it on its way to Canterlot. The letter had only been gone for a few seconds when there was a bright flash of light in the library, and when it faded, there stood Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Immediately, the ponies (minus Twilight) bowed. Celestia nodded, and they rose. Celestia and Luna then made their way to Twilight. “My faithful student,” Celestia said. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine, Princess,” Twilight replied, smiling. “Good,” Celestia said, relieved. “We just received your reply, and we… we would like to see this creature you spoke of.” Twilight looked at her mentor, surprised. Celestia knew better than anypony how dangerous the Everfree forest was. Even she, princess of the sun, was vulnerable there. Going in meant that she could end up like Twilight, or worse! “Princess!” Twilight said anxiously. “Are you sure? It’s-“ “I am sure, Twilight,” Celestia interrupted, holding up a hoof. “If this creature is as powerful as you have described, my sister and I would very much like to meet it.” “Wait, your highness!” Rainbow Dash cried. “That thing killed a manticore in a single second! What if he takes you going there as a threat!?” The two princesses looked at one another. Luna frowned. “Rainbow Dash has a point, sister,” Luna pointed out. “Perhaps we should wait for the nightfall, and I shall watch from afar.” Celestia frowned, but ultimately accepted. “Very well, sister. You shall go tonight, and if it is safe, I shall join you again tomorrow,” Celestia said. Luna smiled, satisfied. “Then if it is okay with you, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said. “I would like to stay with you for the rest of the day, and see if there is anything else I can learn from you.” “Of course, Princess!” Twilight said, smiling. She and Luna did not spend enough time together, this would be good for the two of them. “Thank you, Twilight,” Luna smiled. “Farewell sister. I shall see you tomorrow morning.” “Good luck, Luna,” Celestia replied, before teleporting out of the room. Luna then turned to Twilight and her friends. “Now,” Luna said. “Tell me everything.”