The door to the house was gently opened before a mare with a light grey coat walked in. Her purple and white striped tail wrapped around the edge and pulled the door closed as she walked through.
“Twilight! Shining!” Twilight Velvet called out. “I’m home!”
She quieted herself as she heard a light grunting coming from the living room. The mare walked through to see the familiar sight of her son doing sit-ups on the floor, a light sweat on his coat.
Velvet frowned. “Do you really have to do that in the living room?”
“Better. Atmosphere.” Shining Armor said between sit-ups. “Gets. Blood. Flowing.”
“Yeah, and it gets sweat on my carpet.” Velvet said with an eye roll. “Where is your sister?”
“In her. Room.” Shining grunted out, not stopping. “Last I. Checked.”
Velvet sighed and went to leave the room. Despite her sons mannerisms, she and Nightlight were still incredibly proud of him. Being accepted into the Canterlot Royal Guard Cadet Program was quite a feat, one that Shining Armor achieved with grace. Now he was busying himself constantly, getting ready for the year ahead.
His determination definitely came from his father.
Velvet smiled as she made her way down the hall to Twilight’s room. She had to admit she felt bad for denying Twilight when she went over to see Tulip, but it was probably for the best. Twilight may have been a smart filly, but Velvet did not know how she would react to the rather…grown-up conversations they had.
To think all Twilight wanted to do was spend time with her mother…
But now she could make it up to her. Velvet decided she would dedicate the rest of the evening to whatever her daughter wanted to do. Board games, story books, going out stargazing or maybe even to get milkshakes…anything that bright little filly’s heart desired.
“Twily~?” Velvet cooed softly in a sing-song as she gently pushed the door to her daughter’s room open.
She opened her mouth to speak again as soon as head was through, but cut herself off. Her eyes fell upon the bed where Twilight almost always was with an opened book in front of her, only to see that there was indeed a book, but no Twilight.
“Twilight?” Velvet asked as she pushed the door open fully and proceeded inside. “Sweetie, are you in here?”
Her head turned both ways, eyes scanning the room for any signs of the filly. She proceeded further in until she was in the center, still turning her head. Then a though crossed it, and she smiled as she looked toward the closet.
Twilight was naturally very playful, and Velvet had recalled several times when this had happened before her daughter popped out of the closet and screamed “Here I am!” with a big mischievous smile on her face. Velvet could not hold back a smile of her own as she quietly proceeded up and quickly opened the closet door.
“Gotcha!” She said suddenly with a big smirk before it disappeared. Her eyes quickly scanned the closet top to bottom.
No Twilight.
Velvet proceeded out of the filly’s room and went over to Shining Armor’s. Despite how many times Shining had scolded her for it, Twilight still tended to intrude upon her brother’s sanctum. Even though Shining saw it as an annoyance, Velvet knew it was only because Twilight loved him.
Velvet entered the room, looking top to bottom before searching the closet as well.
No Twilight.
She then proceeded down to her and Nightlight’s room. There were some occurrences that Twilight would take any books she had and went to read them on her parent’s bed. Velvet had read up on it as a natural behavior for foals, as many were instinctively attracted to and comforted by the scents of their parents.
Just as before, she looked the room over top to bottom, making sure to check the closet and even under the bed as well.
No Twilight.
“Twilight?” Velvet called out with a hint of worry in her voice as she proceeded back out into the hallway. “Come on, sweetie. This isn’t funny.”
Velvet went into the kitchen to check for a snacking filly.
No Twilight.
Velvet went into the basement to search for a curious filly once again looking through old boxes of mementos.
No Twilight.
Velvet went out into the backyard to look for a filly playing on the tree swing that her husband had built just for her.
No Twilight.
The hairs on the back of Velvet’s neck stood up, a cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. Velvet took off into a fast gallop through the house, stopping with a slide into the living room.
“SHINING!”
Shining Armor, who had been balancing himself on a front hoof while levitating several pieces of furniture, let out a surprised shriek. Both he and the two chairs and couch all fell to the floor. Shining sloppily got to his hooves.
“Whowhatwhere?” Shining asked, eyes wide before they fell upon his mother.
“You were supposed to be watching Twilight!” Velvet snarled. “Where is she?!”
“I…s-she was in her room!” Shining stuttered in a panic. “I swear she was!”
“Well she’s not now!” Velvet shouted angrily, causing her son to shrink down under her gaze. “And I can’t find her anywhere!”
“What…how?” Shining asked in shock. “Where could she have possibly gone?!”
***
Despite being so young, Twilight Sparkle liked to think she had seen many incredible things.
She remembered her daddy taking her to a special Wonderbolts show last year. It was during that show that Cyclone, the legendary flier, gave one last breathtaking performance before finally retiring. Twilight would never forget the cheers of the crowd as he did his did things that made her head spin, yet still amazed her beyond belief.
She remembered two years ago when her mother took her to see the traveling Saddle Arabian Circus. The image of camels swallowing torches and then spitting out flames like dragons would forever be imprinted on her mind.
She remembered three years ago, when she was barely even able to talk, going with her family to see her first Summer Sun Celebration. The little foal was absolutely thunderstruck at the sight of Princess Celestia, in all her regal brilliance, soaring into the sky with her sun rising over the horizon behind her.
Yes. Twilight Sparkle had seen quite a few incredible things.
However, what she was seeing now put all of them to shame, namely because it was something that nopony anywhere had ever seen before.
Although she felt quite startled by its movement earlier, she felt better now. Now she could see it fully from the front, taking in the details she could not earlier.
The first thing she noticed was its head, which reminded her a bit of an anteater. It was rather long, and on the end of it was a glowing blue light that she assumed must have been its eye. That certainly got her attention, seeing as how she had never seen a one-eyed creature before.
The next thing she saw was a bit more…disturbing.
On the left side of its chest (at least, left from her view) was what could only be described as a massive hole. Inside she could barely make out what looked like pieces of metal that stuck inward from the walls of the hole, some of them lightly glowing blue like the eye.
“We are Geth.”
Twilight, still in a state of absolute awe about what she was witnessing, manage to blink herself out of her stupor with a little effort. She looked up at the tall alien creature, which was easily six times her height, with a curious expression.
“G…Geth?” She repeated the word slowly, almost as if sounding it out carefully.
“Affirmative.” The alien answered without hesitation in its strange, distorted voice.
“So…you are called a…Geth?” Twilight asked.
“Correct.” The Geth said.
“Oh…” Twilight said before a thought hit her. “So…what’s your name?”
The Geth stared at her for a moment, unmoving.
“Geth.”
Twilight blinked. “But…you said you are a Geth.”
“Yes.” The Geth answered. “We are Geth.”
“Alright, but…what’s your name?” Twilight cocked her head to the side.
“Geth.”
“No.” Twilight furrowed her brow a bit. “I mean your name. What is your name?”
The Geth’s eye flaps folded inward a bit.
“Geth.”
Twilight felt her left eye twitch and a little groan escaped her throat. “No! Not the name of what you are! The name of you and you alone.”
“Alone would imply individuality.” The Geth answered simply. “There is no individual, because we are not alone. We are Geth.”
Twilight got an angry, frustrated frown on her face and opened her mouth to retort, but then the words of the Geth sunk in. “Wait…what do you mean ‘not alone’? And why do you keep using ‘we’?”
“‘We’ meaning ‘us’.” The Geth answered her inquiry. “We are all here.”
Twilight stared for a moment before a nervous expression came onto her face. Her head quickly twisted from side to side, her eyes scanning over the clearing. They then focused on the tree line, looking for signs of where the others were.
However, she could find none.
“But…” Twilight turned back towards the Geth with a cocked eyebrow. “…there’s nopony else here.”
“All are contained within this platform.” The Geth said.
Twilight’s eyebrow rose even further. “What do you mean?”
“This unit is a unique gestalt consciousness formed for the purpose of operating independently outside of the Perseus Veil, separate from the main Geth consensus.” The Geth began. “In order to be able to function as such, this mobile platform houses one-thousand one-hundred and eighty-three separate Geth programs in order to form coherent consensus and interact with organic beings such as you.”
Now, Twilight liked to think of herself as a very smart filly. After all, she loved to dive straight into books, and always made sure to ask her parents about new words or ideas.
However, not even she could prevent her eyes from getting slightly derped at that moment.
“I…um…ok?” Twilight bluffed, even though she really had no clue what the Geth had just said. “So…I should just call you Geth then?”
The Geth’s eyeflaps flicked outwards. “Affirmative.”
“Alright then!” Twilight chirped with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Geth! My name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“Acknowledged.” Mr. Geth stated. “Twilight Sparkle, we now await data exchange with you.”
“I…” Twilight cocked her head to the side a bit. “Huh?”
“We have inquiries we wish to make.” Mr. Geth said. “Questions regarding this world.”
Twilight’s mouth formed an “O” shape in realization. It was after that a thought hit her, and she could not help but wonder: Should she really be handling this herself? Maybe she should take him back so he could meet Princess Celestia? Or she could go tell her parents…
The thought made her blink before she frowned. After all, they were the ones who sill treated her like a foal! Well, now she could really prove them wrong.
And maybe she could get her Cutie Mark in the process.
She looked back up at him with a big smile. “Alright, Mr. Geth. I can answer your questions.”
Because I am responsible. She thought to herself. A responsible, mature, totally-not-a-foal pony.
“Acknowledged.” Mr. Geth said. “We wish to know the designation of your species. What does your kind refer to yourselves as?”
Twilight grinned, her look full of pride and confidence.
“I’m a pony!” She chirped with a big proud smile.
Alright, this is easy! She thought. I got this in the bag!
Mr. Geth was silent for a few moments, his blue eye staring at her. “Query: Your designation matches up with a lesser species on another planet. Your language is also one of the native dialects of the dominant species of that world. Are you at all familiar with the human race?”
Just like that, her smile disappeared, replaced by a rather unsure look. “I…uh…hew…man?”
“Correct.” Mr. Geth said. “Has your species made previous contact with theirs?”
Twilight bit her lip. “I…have never heard of 'hewmans' before.” She frowned and her ears folded down. “I’m sorry…”
Mr. Geth was silent for a moment, the flaps on his eye flicking lightly. “Acknowledged. What is the designation of this world?”
Twilight straightened herself up and cocked her head. “You mean the name? Well…” She thought back to her preschool class, where they also learned about the world around them. “It’s called Equus.”
“Equus…to imply equine, which you are.” Mr. Geth said. “Is this correct?”
Twilight’s smile from earlier returned to her face. “Yep!”
“Acknowledged.” Mr. Geth stated. “How far back do the records of your species’ history go?”
Once again, Twilight frowned. “I…don’t know. We never got that far in our class…” Twilight thought for a moment. “Although I think the history of the Griffons went back pretty far...”
As Twilight trailed off in thought, Mr. Geth picked up. “Query: What are these ‘Griffons’ you speak of?”
Twilight stopped her thinking and looked at him. “Well…they live north of Equestria, so I guess you could call them our neighbors. Princess Celestia is really good friends with their Emperor, although I can’t remember his name…”
Just as before, Twilight once again trailed off in thought, and again Mr. Geth picked up. “Query: Are these ‘Griffons’ a name of another sect of your species?”
Twilight looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow. “No, they’re…Griffons.” Twilight explained. “They are really big, they have sharp claws, a bunch of feathers, wings, and live in huge cities up in the highlands and mountains.”
Mr. Geth was silent for a moment. “You are saying that this is another sapient species that inhabits the same world as your species?”
“Sa...pient?” Twilight sounded the word out. She furrowed her brow in thought, trying to figure out where she had heard it before.
Mr. Geth saw her plight and explained. “Sapient race meaning intelligent. They are intelligent like your race?”
“Well, yeah.” Twilight said. “They seem pretty smart. Probably not as smart as the Zebras, but still smart.”
Mr. Geth stared at her for a moment. “Query: Exactly how many sapient races inhabit this planet alongside your kind?”
Twilight blinked before she tapped her muzzle in thought. “Well…there are the Griffons, Zebras, Changlings, Dragons, Minotaurs…”
As Twilight continued to name off quite a few more species names, Mr. Geth stared at her. Although he was silent, inside were hundreds of individual programs all trying to process this new and startling development.
“...and…” Twilight furrowed her brow a bit before turning back to Mr. Geth. “…that’s all.”
Mr. Geth was silent for a few long seconds, staring at her with his glowing blue eye. “We will need a moment to process this new information.”
Mr. Geth went quiet once again, his head turning upward and staring out at the rest of the clearing. As he did so, Twilight could not help but once again gawk at him. It was at that moment that the nature of the situation she was in truly set in.
Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! I’m talking to an alien!
The thought caused a gigantic, somewhat crazed grin to cross her face, and she literally buzzed with excitement.
Mr. Geth noticed once he again turned his head down to look at the filly, who was lightly shaking in place with eyes wide as dinner plates. “Twilight Sparkle, are you unwell?”
Twilight managed to calm herself down after a moment, still keeping her grin as she furiously shook her head. “Nah, I am just so excited!”
Mr’s Geth’s eye flaps flicked gently. “Is this the First Contact your world has made with other-worldly beings?”
Twilight blinked before lightly cocking her head. “I…what?”
“Beings from beyond your world.” Mr. Geth explained. “Has your planet ever had contact with any before now?”
Twilight scratched the back of her neck. “Not that I know. Aliens were always just stories and legends to us.” Twilight fixed him with an unsure look. “If any of the other races have, I haven’t heard of it.”
“Acknowledged.” Mr. Geth said. “We have other inquiries we wish to make.”
Twilight furrowed her brow a bit. “You mean more questions?”
“Correct.”
“Could…we do something else.” Twilight asked with a hopeful look. “I don’t mean to be rude, but…”
Mr. Geth stared at her for a moment. “What else are you referring to?”
Twilight furrowed her brow for a moment, deep in thought. Then she got one and a big smile came onto her face. “I’ve got it!”
She looked up at Mr. Geth with her big, expressive eyes.
“How about we play hide-and-seek?”
Mr. Geth was silent for a moment, his eye flap flicking outwards and then inwards. “We have no data available on this ‘hide-and-seek’ you speak of.”
Twilight’s smile disappeared, replaced for a downtrodden, almost heartbroken look. It was as if somepony had just told her that the Tooth Pony wasn’t real.
“You’ve…” Twilight’s eyes got a bit shiny and her lip stuck out. “…never played hide-and-seek before?”
“We have no previous records of this ‘hide-and-seek’.” Mr. Geth stated simply.
Twilight continued to look sad before she forced a smile onto her face. “Well don’t worry, Mr. Geth. I can show you!”
***
Nightlight proceeded up the walkway to his house, a rather downtrodden look on his face. To think that all it took was one idiot to ruin the day in the form of having one too many before causing a scene in the middle of the bar. That idiot just happened to be one of Nightlight’s best friends.
So much for guy’s night.
Nightlight let out a heavy sigh as he pushed open the doorway to his home, stepping through before closing it again. It was as he was wiping his hooves on the welcome mat that his ears pricked up to the sound of ponies talking.
Nightlight cantered into the living room to be treated to quite the sight. The first thing he saw was his son, who currently talking to Jack Hammer and High Flier, two of the neighbors. The next thing his eyes drifted to was his wife on the couch, a look of absolute horror stricken on her face along with a few tears. Sitting on either side of her were Tulip Stem and Rosen Crantz, her two friends who were trying to comfort her the best that they could.
Nightlight blinked at the scene and cocked an eyebrow before making his presence known.
“What the hay is going on?”
Everypony in the room immediately turned to him, seeing the new arrival for the first time. None of them even had a chance to get a single word in before Twilight Velvet shot off the couch and practically threw herself at her husband, wrapping her arms around him.
“N-Nighty!” She sobbed out before pushing off and looking at him through teary eyes. “It’s horrible!”
Nightlight blinked a few times. “What?”
“It’s…It’s…” Velvet stammered out.
“It’s Twilight.” Shining Armor said, drawing his father’s attention. “We can’t find her.”
“WHAT?” Nightlight’s eyes went wide before he gently pushed his wife away. He stomped toward his son, Shining shrinking down to his haunches as he did so. “I thought we told you to watch her!”
“S-she was in her room!” Shining stammered out. “She must have slipped out while I was in the living room.” Shining bit his lower lip. “I’m sorry, dad!”
Nightlight glared at him for a few long seconds before he turned to the other ponies in the room. “I assume you all got dragged into this?”
“You don’t have to ‘drag’ us into anything, Light.” Jack Hammer said with an attempt at a comforting smile. “When it comes to family, you can always count on me for help.”
“And me as well.” High Flier added in. “We can help look for her.”
“I…I-I just don’t understand!” Velvet choked out, breathing heavily. “Where could she have gone?! Why would she have left by herself?! What if she got foalnapped?!?! What if-“
“Mom…” Shining cut her off before holding up Velvet’s handy stress reliever. “Please breathe into the bag.”
Velvet hastily took the brown paper bag and took deep breaths into it, the object inflating and deflating as she did so. The rate of the breaths began to slow down as she was calmed by the action.
“Alright…” Nightlight began, turning to the stallions. “I appreciate the help, gentlecolts. Can’t thank you enough.”
“No problem, Light.” High Flier began as he extended his wings. “Now let’s go find your daughter.”
He and Jack Hammer took off for the door. As they did so, Twilight Velvet went and once again took her place on the couch, still breathing into the bag as she did so. Tulip and Rosen once again moved to try to comfort the hyperventilating mare.
Shining turned to and began to follow after Jack Hammer and High Flier.
“Hold it right there, young colt.”
Shining froze as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He turned to his father with a nervous expression. “Y…yes dad?”
“I assume you know what I am going to say.” Nightlight said with narrowed eyes.
“I didn’t mean for this, I swear!” Shining said hastily while biting his lip.
“Oh really?” His father said with a flat look. “And what exactly happened before Twilight up ‘n vanished?”
“I…” Shining gulped. “Well…she kept asking to play a game or get me to read her a story, but I am on a very strict regiment so I told her no and then I-“
“Son…” Nightlight said with an un-amused expression. “Watching after your little sister means spending time with her and keeping her happy. You know how sensitive she can be. Knowing her, she probably got angry and stomped out of the house.”
“I…” Shining let out a sigh before his head fell. He sincerely did feel horrible, not for himself but for Twilight. “I’m sorry dad.”
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” Nightlight said with a frown. “We will discuss your punishment later. For now, let’s go find your sister.”
Shining took in a deep breath before straightening himself up and giving a practiced salute. “Yes, sir!”
Nightlight smiled and rolled his eyes as he and his son proceeded out the door, leaving a still distraught Twilight Velvet on the couch with her two friends and a brown paper bag.