//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Are We Alone?: A Spore Story // by Heat Horn //------------------------------// Gem Shard, a stallion unicorn with a pristine white coat and a groomed blue mane with a sound wave for a cutie mark, was a researcher for the Canterlot Advanced Technology program and he along with his partner were about to make a breakthrough that could change their lives and possibly all of Equestria... "Is it finished?" Gem Shard asked his partner Soul Gem, an ordinary looking unicorn mare with a lean body with a blue coat and a light blue mane which was, as always, messy and with a wrench for a cutie mark, for the tenth time that day. "Almost." Soul Gem said as she turned to look at his partner "Be patient, it takes awhile to make a receiver this powerful." she said before turning back to the machine that they were working on. Gem Shard walked up to Soul Gem's side and looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing. "Are all the antenna extensions really necessary?" he asked a he pointed to a few of the larger antenna segments.Walking across the room he also observed some of the oddly stacked black boxes "I mean the translators are a bit too big don't you think?" Gem Shard said gesturing to the large metal box that looked like it could be big enough for a pony. "Yes yes, now please give the translator to me so I can attach it to the receiver" Soul Gem said with a bit of annoyance in her voice. Gem Shard quickly pushed the box over to the table where Soul Gem was working "Hmmm... for a box that big it is quite light" he said as he made one last push not wanting to waste his magic on something he deemed to be this tedious. He may be smart but he sure is strong. Soul Gem thought to herself looking over her partner before returning to her work. The machine itself was simple, a deep wave receiver that was meant to catch interstellar transmissions in the hopes that they would prove themselves to not be alone in the vast reaches of space. The inner workings though, were a whole other story; the entire thing can on a 12-cell energy crystal array which was the most efficient thing that their division could get their hands on with the meager funding given to them. The main body had 3 essential parts: The main receiver which was dedicated to receiving and storing any inbound or intercepted messages About an hour had passed when Soul Gem finally finished the receiver. "It's done Shard!" she called towards the pantry of their research station and waited half expecting to be pushed to the other wall by her partner, but when no reply came she decided to go to the pantry and check on Gem Shard. As she walked away from their machine she couldn't help but notice how messy the room had gotten over the passed few weeks, several machine parts littered the floor, the paint on the wall had started to chip due to the changing climate, blueprints were everywhere, and worst of all she noticed that they were out of clean lab coats. "This place need to get cleaned up really bad... meh I'll make Shard do it tomorrow" she mumbled casually. As she walked along the narrow hallway leading towards the pantry she could smell smoke coming from her destination and quickly hastened toward the room and as she entered she could only say these words... "What in Tartarus did you do here?!" It had only been an hour since Gem Shard left for the pantry and already he had failed to make the cupcakes he wanted, burned half of their baking supplies, used the last of their firewood to heat the oven, and also managed to cover himself in batter. "Maybe this time it will work" he said hoping that his fourth and final batch of cupcakes ended up on the table and not in the trash like the other three. "Ok everything seems fine" he said to himself as he saw the cupcakes slowly rising in the oven. "It's done Shard" Gem Shard thought that he heard his partner say something but decided to ignore it. "I hope that's not important" Shard said to himself as he continued to watch the cupcakes that he so wanted to eat, but the cupcakes had other ideas, they started rise much quicker than Gem Shard wanted and eventually popped. Gem Shard disappointed by the cupcakes flopped on the floor just as the door opened. "What in Tartarus did you do here?!" Soul Gem said with obvious anger in her words. After Soul Gem berated Gem Shard for using all the baking supplies they had and for making the pantry smell like a fire pit she and Gem Shard cleaned up the pantry as best they could. "That's the last time I leave you alone in the pantry" Soul gem said to her partner, Gem Shard looked down and mumbled to himself "This is the only time you left me alone in the pantry" quite sarcastically. The two then proceeded back to the main research lab only to receive the shock of their lives... The light on the receiver that indicated a message was blinking. "Oh Celestia I can't believe it!" Gem shard said as his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "We have a signal already? I just finished building the thing!" Soul Gem said in disbelief. The two just stood there for a full ten seconds before Gem Shard ran forward and pressed the play button. "Well what does it say?" Soul Gem said while still shocked that their machine was able to pick up a signal just moments after it's completion. "Shh!!" Gem Shard hissed at her for possibly interrupting the message. While Gem Shard waited patiently for the message to go through the translator Soul Gem grabbed a quill and scroll on the desk behind them. "-DAY MAYDAY!!" the speaker boomed suddenly coming to life, causing the Gem Shard to step back form the Machine. *static* "-ELP I'M HIT!! GOING DOWN!!! I REPEAT GOING DOWN!!" The two researchers that had previously been waiting for the message to continue now looked at each other, both with shock in their eyes *static* "THIS IS BATTLESHIP FOXTROT 4 CRASH LANDING IN SECTOR 2 4 3 7 6 0 8... If anyone hears thi-" that was all they heard follows by a loud explosion. Gem Shard was too in shock to actually react to the sudden direness of the message. While Soul Gem used her quick thinking to jot down the numbers on the scroll he had been suspending in her magic field this whole time somehow managing no to lose focus. *static* "Message terminated" the machine said leaving the room in complete silence Soul Gem had already started writing a report to princess Celestia about their recent findings and the grave message that their machine had managed to pick up. Gem Shard on the other hand just stood there pondering his next move. "Aren't you going to add something to this report?" Soul Gem said briefly looking up from the scroll to ask her partner. Gem was snapped back to reality with this realization, 7 years of research had finally paid off. "It worked..." he managed to say though it came out very soft. "It worked!! Gem Shard said with tears welling in his eyes and a goofy looking grin on his face. Soul Gem only looked at him with a confident smile and said "I knew it would" What happened next took Soul Gem completely by surprise. Gem Shard ran up to Soul Gem and gave her the most passionate hug that he could give whispering"we did it" softly into her ears which caused Soul Gem to blush profusely all through out the hug but she still managed to hug Shard back A few minutes later Gem Shard had officially calmed down and started helping Soul Gem on the report to Princess Celestia. Dear Princess Celestia I am happy to inform you of our recent success at the Canterlot laboratories Advanced Technology division, project First Contact is a success... well almost, we have recently constructed a working receiver and have been able to pick up a message. Currently we are not sure what the message means but we can assure you that we are trying our best to understand it, we also are starting work on a working transmitter that will hopefully allow us to have a two-way connection and allow us to have a better understanding of these beings. We are hoping for your quick response and a confirmation to push our research to the next level. Sincerely, Soul Gem and Gem Shard Gem Shard then rolled a ribbon around the scroll and sealed it with the golden canterlot seal then left it out in the mailbox for the mail-mare to pick up. "I hope she gets it and replies soon, we really need that research fund." Soul Gem said to herself before re-entering the lab It had only been a day since Soul Gem and Gem Shard had sent their letter to the princess and yet still no reply came... "Dear sister hath thou been troubled of late?" Luna asked Celestia, who had been pacing the Canterlot Castle hall for quite some time now. "It's nothing Luna..." Celestia said making an attempt to hide her face for fear that her sister would see the truth, but she failed to hide the scroll which was in her hoof the entire time. "Then what is thou reading?" Luna asked while her eyes slowly drifted towards the scroll in her sisters hoof. she began to read the scroll while Celestia pondered her response what she saw amazed her. "Sister thou should have told me sooner this is most excellent news!!" Luna said ignoring the fact that Celestia had no idea that she was reading the scroll "Luna I don't think you fully understand what this means" Celestia said looking at her sister with heavy eyes and a grave expression on her face "What is the problem sister I hath always thought that you wanted to find other life in the universe that surroundeth us... so why now, when we are so close to the discovery of such life do you begin to feel upset?" Luna asked her sister, who was now on her haunches and immersed in deep thought. "It's just..." Celestia attempted to divulge more of what she truly felt about the situation but alas her mind had failed to form her feelings into words. "It's just that i'm...i'm worried about this new discovery...I have been thinking of it and after I got over the initial shock of the fact that we are not alone in the universe i got to thinking... how will these other-worlders be like, will they as compassionate as us? Will they distrust us? Will they try to destroy us? I just... i'm not sure if we should carry out this project..." Celestia said with anxiety in her voice alongside obvious doubt. "Give it a chance dear sister you have put much in the ways of money along with the time of our little ponies into this project and it would be a real shame to just tell the scientists at Canterlot labs that their work was for nothing would it not?" Luna asked making it very clear that she wouldn't let her sister drop the project completely... at least not without a fight. "I just don't know sister i don't feel like this is the right thing to do... I mean how would this benefit our race anyway? how would this help advance our own society? I just don't think that this is what our resources should be devoted to." Celestia said still looking quite phased at the fact that she had received a letter telling her that they had picked up a transmission from outer space. "Then if that is indeed how you feel then why did thou devote such vast quantities of our resources into the project in the first place?" Luna said with conviction determined to change her sisters mind "NO!!" Celestia said quite unexpectedly "Sorry it's just that you have such high hopes for this and I don't think you see the full picture of what could happen if the race we have managed to contact has any malicious intent... I don't think that I can handle feeling responsible if something happened to my little ponies because of this..." Celestia said sounding quite serious, also managing to scare her sister. "Sister...I-I I just wanted to help and give a suggestion I had not meant it like that..." Luna said feeling very scared at her sisters sudden outburst. "I'm sorry sister but I am not willing to take this risk...I still remember...Project D-" Celestia said as she rose and started walking to the door intent on shutting down project First Contact. "No... it's ok you don't have to say it..."Luna said over her sobbing cries just as Celestia walked out the door, tears fresh in her eyes For Gem Shard and Soul Gem it was an ordinary day, save for the fact that they had not gotten a yes to continue research nor did they receive any funding that indicated they could do so "Did you check the mail yet Soul" Gem Shard asked with a smile that bordered near insanity and eyes that would have bore into anypony elses soul all while he waited patiently for his breakfast "Yes I did Shard...Twice" Soul Gem said feeling a bit annoyed at the statement due to the fact she was trying to cook "Oh... ok just checking" Shard said with a casual tone, then began to gorge himself on his food just as the plate was set in front of him "You know you could thank me once in a while, right?" Soul Gem said to Gem Shard in a joking manner with a smirk on her face. "Ok ok thanks for the wonderful meal Soul, though seriously where did you learn to cook like that?" Shard managed to say over his stuffed mouth which currently contained vegetarian omelette, pancakes, and a lettuce leaf. "Well my mom always let me cook with her when I was little so I learned quite alot" she said proudly also remembering the fact that Shard couldn't cook even if his life depended on it *knock* *knock* *knock* "I wonder who that could be?" Soul Gem inquired to herself and her partner "I'll get it!" Gem Shard said almost whimsically as he walked over to the battered door and slowly opened it only to nearly faint after who he saw on the other side. "Hello my little ponies I regre-" she tried to say before she was cut off by Gem Shard "ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh" Gem Shard said faster than Clestia could hear Celestia walked over to the table where Soul Gem was still sitting and asked her calmly "Is he always like this?" she asked Soul Gem calmly trying to ignore the fact that Gem Shard was bouncing near the doorway "Only around celebrities" Soul Gem said rolling her eyes at Shards obvious star struck state "Wow I never thought scientist considered me a celebrity" Celestia said whilst blushing "But that is not what I am here for, I am sorry to inform you that your project has been cancelled..." Celestia said with a sudden and unexpected change in voice "WHAT?!" Soul Gem and Gem Shard both simultaneously said with both surprise, anger, and anguish in their voices