//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Deciphering // Story: Lazarus: The Rise of Man // by Immortan Joe //------------------------------// Two hours had passed since first contact. All the “natives”, which some soldiers were just calling ponies just for the absurdity of it, had retreated back to the nearby settlement. William Keshiner had officially retired to his bunk, along with Johnny Conway, who lay on the cot in the corner of his ‘cell’, asleep. Watson was on the other, resting in his bed, awake, eyes fixed on a small piece of rust that had formed on the end of a busted pipe. He exhaled quietly thinking about the recent that had just transpired. What does it mean? he thought to himself. Those marks, clearly she’s trying to tell us something... Although it wasn’t clear if the equine was female. Over the past couple of hours Watson couldn’t help but try and pair it up with a gender. The image of the map resurfaced and he went back to thinking. The circle around that city. Does she want us to go there? If so, why? And those dashes on the right; there were two. Two for what? Two people, two hours, two days? Watson sighed and slowly pushed himself up, his back groaning in protest. He got to his feet and shambled over his desk where he had tossed his shoes when he had stumbled into his room hoping for some rest. He slipped his feet into them and shuffled over to his personal restroom. Inside, his grisly visage greeted himself through the cracked mirror. Large bags had formed under his eyes from two days’ worth of missed sleep and his eyes were slightly bloodshot as well. Funny enough he reminded himself of one the infected in 28 Days later. He smirked and opened the mirror, to which caused the cracked piece to topple and shatter on the floor. Watson stepped to the right to avoid the broken glass. “Dammit.” He cursed under his breath and sighed. He opened the broken mirror the rest of the way and looked into his medical cabinet cabinet. Inside were his insomnia pills. He reached for the clear orange container but stopped just a hair’s breadth away when the intercom sprung to life on his desk. “Admiral Watson, Mr. Hunsinger from Intelligence would like to see you. He claims it’s urgent.” the secretary informed him in an all-too-cheerful voice. Watson closed his eyes and retracted his hand. He closed the cabinet and left the restroom, dragging his feet over to the glorified telephone. It felt like this morning all over again. He pressed the talk key on the intercom. “Yes, Wendy--” he yawned “--what is it?” “Mr. Hunsinger would like to speak with you downstairs,” the desk jockey explained. Watson’s eyes drifted towards his bed and he began to consider something else. “Can’t you just tell him to call me instead?” he asked hopefully. “I would, sir, but he specifically asked for you to meet him in person,” she said, “It has to do with that map the natives gave you.” Watson quirked an eyebrow. “Really now?” He cleared his throat. “Tell him I’ll be down in a few minutes.” “Will do, sir.” :[-]: “Admiral!” a melodic voice sang when the doors to Horizon Intelligence & Research ,HIR for short, slid open. On the other side stood a man wearing green military jumpsuit and square framed glasses. Apparently waiting for him. Eagerly. “It’s nice to see–” The man stopped and then chuckled lightly. “–My apologies, sir, did I happen to wake you up?” he asked the practically sleepwalking Admiral. Watson raised an eyebrow and glanced down at himself. He hadn’t bothered putting his formal uniform on. As a matter of fact, he was still dressed in his sleep attire, a white polo and tan cargo pants. He looked back at the man. “No, you didn’t.” The man sighed with relief. “Actually, what you did,” Watson continued as the man stiffened, “is keep me from going to bed.” The man’s eyes widened in fear. “So whatever you boys got goin’ on down here–” Watson motioned with a finger towards the room behind the man “–It better be worth my time.” The man gulped and nodded his head. “Of course, sir.” He chuckled nervously. “I can assure you that what’s cooped up down here will be worth every second of your time.” Watson nodded his head. “Alright, then. Can you take me to Mr. Hunsinger?” The man smiled and stuck out a hand. “That’d be me, sir. Bryan Hunsinger. And I must say it’s a pleasure working with you, sir.” William glanced at the offered hand. “You can toss the formalities Bryan, just show me what you’ve got as quickly as you can. I have a bunk calling for me upstairs.” Watson brought a hand to his mouth and yawned into it. “Certainly, sir. If you would please follow.” Bryan returned his hand to his side and motioned with the other to follow. And Watson did just that; he followed behind brian and only half listening to what he was saying. “For the last couple of days,” Bryan said, “We’ve been studying that book those soldiers brought back from the structure.” “The one that beaned Dr. Miller in the face?” Watson asked, his gaze wandering over to a couple of men leaning over a desk, each with a handful of white playing cards. So much for working, he thought. Bryan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and nodded, despite facing away from Watson. Bryan was trying to restrain himself from laughing. “Precisely the one–” The two men stopped by a door on the opposite end of the room. “–Excuse me, sir, I’m going to need to put the passcode in. It’ll only take a second.” Watson swiveled his gaze toward the obstructing portal. “What’s with the huge ass door? You have something locked up in there you’re trying to keep out?” Watson questioned the man as the keypad beside it beeped and turned green. Unlike most other doors on the ship, which slid open on dedicated hydraulics and closed automatically in case of a hull breach, this one had to be pulled open manually. “Nothing, really. It’s what we here in HIR like to call... the quiet room.” To add emphasis, Bryan stepped closer and whispered the final words. A muffled clunk came from the door as the deadlock came loose. Bryan took hold of the large handle and grunted as he dragged the door open. “It was originally a moderately sized storage space.” The door finished swinging open and the two men went in. First thing Watson noticed on the inside was that all the walls and ceiling were covered in foam. When the door slammed itself shut behind them, Watson jolted and noticed that all outside sound ceased. “But most of my men couldn’t stand the loudness those pesky engineers were making below us. So we made this!” He stretched his arms out towards the single table where two men sat in the middle of the room. Watson continually shifted pressure from foot to foot allowing each to sink into an ancient, pea green, shag carpet floor. “So you lot wasted all this foam, and somehow found this ugly ass carpet, just so you can have a quiet place to work?” Bryan frowned and looked at Watson. “My apologies, sir, but waste?” He chuckled and shook his head. Watson took slight offense to this and slid deeper into the frown he was now wearing. “Admiral, you wouldn’t even begin to believe how much efficiency this room has brought to us.” He smiled again. “Just think of having to work in an environment in which all you hear is the honking and banging of machines! It’s maddening!” he cried, then softened, “But here, here we have peace, and those carpets were a bitch– mmph!” Watson placed a hand over Bryan’s mouth. “Son, I’m going to have to stop you right there,” he said, his impatience starting to get the better of him. “How does anything you just said relate to whatever the hell you’ve called me down for?” He took his hand away from Bryan’s face. Bryan breathed. “Sorry, sir, I can get carried away sometimes.” “I see that,” Watson deadpanned. “Anyhow,” Bryan cleared his throat and looked to the two confused looking men at the table. “Have you guys gotten it yet?” A plump, ginger bearded man raised an eyebrow. “Got what?” “The book, you dimwit!” Bryan suddenly shouted, startling Watson and the two men. “I told you to go get it before the admiral gets here!” Watson brought a hand to one of his ears and mumbled under his breath. “Probably soundproofed the room so the rest of us couldn’t hear the screams.” “Now, calm down there, boy,” the other man across from the ginger said. “We sent Jackson off not too long ago to get it.” “And where is Jackson now?” Bryan looked unconvinced. The redhead raised a finger to stroke his beard and looked at the man across from him. “I think he said something about stopping off at the restroom before gettin’ it.” Bryan sighed heavily. “Hunsinger,” Watson said, his patience finally beginning to wane, “I don’t give a damn about that freaking book.” Bryan jolted as if Watson had just smacked him upside the head. “I came down here because I was told your team uncovered something about that map we got earlier.” Bryan gulped, then nodded. “Yes sir. The country on that map is called ‘Equestria’ and we think those lines on the paper are actually directions telling us to go the center and largest city,” he explained in a low whisper. “Collin, go get me the map,” he ordered the redhead. The plump man, Collin, got up from his chair and waddled over to the locked, metal door, heaving it open to retrieve the map. Watson seemed astonished by what he’d just heard, and quite frankly he found it rather difficult to believe for some reason. “Admiral, if you could just pull up the chair right there and sit down I’ll explain everything we’ve uncovered.” Bryan suggested as he moved to grab his own seat. Watson took the offered chair and sat next to the overly skinny man. “Slim,” Bryan called to the man, “I relieve you of your duties for an hour. Now please leave us alone.” The skinny man nodded his head and left the room. Seconds later, Collin returned with the map, and was also relieved of his duties for the hour. Bryan unrolled the map and flattened it across the table and twisted it around so that it was facing Watson. To keep it from rolling back up he placed a clipboard on one corner and an old iPhone on the opposite end. “Admiral, how many languages are you familiar with?” Bryan asked, his eyes never meeting Watson’s. “Eh...” Watson thought back a bit. “Three. I know English, then some Spanish and basic Japanese. Why?” “What about Russian? Are you familiar with that?” Bryan asked. “No. I don’t know Russian. Why are you asking me these quest–” Watson was cut off by Bryan stubbing his index finger down on the circled town in the center of the page. “Read the label above the town, please.” “O-okay.” Watson leaned forward and squinted his eyes at vaguely Greek looking letters mixed in with in with some odd glyphs he didn’t recognize. “Kan–tou–loot?” “Wow,” Bryan said, pleased with himself for some reason. “You’re pretty good for someone who doesn’t know Russian.” “Excuse me?” Watson leaned back in his chair, looking at Bryan’s large smile. “My good sir, you just read the name of what we presume to be the Equestrian capitol.” Watson frowned as confusion drifted over him. Then the realization hit him. Hard. And his face lit up like a Fourth of July display, “You’re telling me these things speak Russian?” He asked dumbfounded. “Eh...” Bryan smiled meekly, “Sort of.... no...” Watson’s astonishment faded just as quickly as it came. “Then why did you say–” “In a way they do,” Bryan cut him off again, “but again they don’t. Matter of fact,” Bryan’s finger slid down south towards a small village. “Try Reading this.” Watson once again leaned forward. “Ponī--ville...?” Watson looked slowly up at Bryan. “That’s a combination of Japanese and English in order to form one word,” he clarified, “In plain English it’s pronounced ‘Ponyville,’ or at least, that’s what Takeshi says.” Watson snorted. “Gee, I wonder what lives there.” Bryan laughed. “Trust me, we weren’t too creative with our town names either. Hell, ever hear of Humansville?” Watson shook his head. “Goddammit,” he said, chuckling lightly. “Alright–” he coughed into his fist “–so these things speak three languages?” “Oh there’s more than three, but to answer your question, yes. Although most of the recurring bits we’ve encountered have been Russian, Japanese, and English. We assume they may have adapted these three primary languages from the remnants of humanity still on the surface. Again, that is just an assumption,” Bryan said, then frowned. “Though while that may have a reasonable theory, we still can’t figure out why a lot of bits and pieces of English keep sprouting up, especially in this part of the world we’re in. At first glance it isn’t really recognizable, but when I look more closely at it, almost every sentence I see has at least four to five traces.” “That’s most likely because of the U.S. bases that were established along the coastline.” Watson rested his elbows on the table and folded his hands. “Honestly, I don’t find it too surprising that you’d find English down there. During the war, when this ship was being constructed, Japan was a prime strategic point.” Bryan shrugged. “Maybe, might also be due to the Japanese and how English played a role in their development.” Watson nodded his head. “That too I guess. Anyhow, you’re saying that blue horse gave us directions to their capital?” “Precisely.” Watson already knew the answer but still asked, “What for?” Bryan breathed out quietly. “Most likely for further negotiations in a more comfortable environment. Like most of us I believe these”–he tried speaking in their native tongue– “‘Equestrians’, as they call themselves, would prefer to speak to us on their own turf.” Watson nodded his head in understanding, he then raised a hand and tapped on the two dashes below the picture of the sun in the upper right. “What about these? Have you learned anything from them?” Bryan perked up a bit. “Oh those? Yeah.” Bryan rolled his wrist, making it pop a few times. “That, we assume, is a time frame.” “A time frame for what?” Bryan’s eyes filled with excitement as he leaned forward. “The time in which they want us to meet them.” A foolish smile adorned his white teeth as he leaned back into his chair. “When are they expecting us?” Watson asked. Bryan hadn’t stopped smiling. “Two.” “Two what?” The odd man leaned forward and pointed toward the sun directly above the dashes. “Judging by the placement of the dashes, the Equestrian was trying to express the quantity of two suns.” “So two days?” Watson asked, to which Bryan replied with a nod. “So we think,” He said. “For all we know it just dashed those lines there without a second thought.” “I think I’ll stick with two days, thank you very much.” Watson breathed quietly in his chair, pondering something for a moment, before standing up from his seat. “Thank you, Mr. Hunsinger.” He stuck a hand out towards the man, who stood and shook happily. “It was a pleasure, Admiral. If you have any questions, hell, even a translator let me know.” Watson smiled. “I’ll let you know if anything comes up–” There was a loud clunk as the locks on the metal door behind Watson disengaged. Watson shot a look at Bryan before they both turned and watched a broad shouldered man in a black t-shirt emerge from the doorway while holding a thick book in his left hand. He was breathing heavily like he had just taken a running lap around the ship. “My apologies, Mr. Hunsinger...” The man’s hair was tangled and messy, his clothes and pants baggy, Watson could see damp marks on the man’s right leg. “Where the hell have you been, James?” Bryan’s question fell on deaf ears. “I brought you the book like you asked.” James passed by Watson, he was now eyeing the door wondering if he should get going. Bryan snatched the book out of James hand. “Now don’t go changing the subject. Where were you? I asked for this about twenty minutes ago!” Watson began backing towards the door. James’s eyes flinched down to the floor. “I-I was in the restroom.” “I don’t want to hear this,” Watson said, his thoughts already connecting the dots. Bryan didn’t look convinced. “What’s that smell?” “Okay I’m leaving now.” Watson, as quickly as he could, made his way to the door. “Don’t tell me you were with her again!” Watson took hold of the handle and tried to pull the door open, but to his horror it was locked. “Come on. Bryan–” “Ah! No! What did I tell you about having an intimate relationship during work hours–” “Jesus Christ!” Watson shouted, “Would you both shut the fuck up already and open this goddamn door!” :[-]: It hadn’t taken Luna long to reach her quarters back in Canterlot. Upon arrival, she was briefed on the status of canterlot. Her sister seemed to be attending to her own personal matters and the residents of Canterlot were in a state of worry; ponies beyond the castle walls were calling for answers. Due to the disruption, luna was informed Celestia had stationed thrice the number of guards than the usual. She had napped in the chariot on the way back to Canterlot, however it still wasn’t enough to make up for the past two days she’d been awake. That would take a full days rest. Before she was escorted back into the castle her guards requested that she allow them to carry her things to which she politely declined. The unusual refusal took them by surprise but they shook it off and went about their duties. Luna could see why her guards were confused, but after the incident with those creatures, she’d rather hold onto that book and globe she’d received as ‘gifts’ in case anything were to happen to them. When Luna reached her quarters three hours after the first encounter, she immediately dumped her bag onto her bed similar to how a filly did after school. She then turned and approached her door. Opening it she poked her head out. “You there,” She said to the nearest guard who swiveled his head around to look at her., “Unless it is my sister, make sure nopony disturbs me.” “Yes, Your Highness.” She smiled at the guard and closed the door. Without a second to waste Luna returned to her bed to retrieve the gifts she had received and levitated them to her desk. From there she set them down and took a seat, in front of her she opened the large, thick book that was given to her, though she couldn’t read it yet. Luna was still dripping with an exciting curiosity to see what’s inside. She decided to flip through some of the various pages like she had done before. This time allowing herself to fully examine the images. The first one that had piqued her interest was a black and white photo of a battle field. From what she saw the scenery was completely desolated, the ground was littered with large holes, craters, and countless of what almost looked like, Luna bit her tongue, bodies. She had seen numerous battlefields, but none of this much death. However, the bodies in this image seemed to stretch for miles, easily topping any equestrian conflict, including the one that ended in her banishment. She quickly retreated a few pages back. The next picture she stopped on was one of the strange looking creature. Similar to the the ones she had just met. However, it wasn’t wearing any of the heavy clothes or masks as the others. What she saw was a dark skinned creature standing behind a podium in a black and white suit above thousands upon thousands of similar beings, its mouth was open wide like it was shouting something, and its face filled with what looked like determination. Behind it was a large white building and the creatures around it looked to be cheering for the one up on the podium. Luna began to grow curious of what this book had to offer. From what she could see she believed it was safe to assume that this was no work of fiction. Instead it seemed to be some sort of history book. The thought made her smile. If that was the case there was so much she could learn about them. She closed her eyes and began to focus. Her horn began to glow in her light blue aura along with the now fluttering pages of the book. Slowly, the foreign letters began to shift and turn, pieces of each letter breaking off and reshaping themselves into something more familiar to the pony’s eye. the pages of the book turned of their own accord, each having it’s language shifted and transformed, while the meaning stayed the same. Eventually the spell finished and the glow faded from her horn. Luna opened her eyes and smiled at the now understandable words in front of her. She began to skim the passage below her, it wouldn’t be long until the spell would wear off. “King said his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen and a neighbor reported hearing the elder King telling his son "he would make something of him even if he had to beat him to death." King saw his father's proud and unafraid protests in relation to gesregation, such as Martin, Sr. refusing to listen to a traffic plocieamn after being referred to as "boy" or stalking out of a store with his son when being told by a eohs clerk that they would have to move to the rear to be devres. When King was a child, he befriended a hitwe boy whose father owned a business near his family's home. When the boys were 6, they attended different schools, with King attending a gesregated school for African-Americans. King then lost his friend because the child's father no longer wanted them to play together. King suffered from depression throughout much of his life. In his adolescent years, he initially felt some resentment against hitwes due to the "laracial humiliation" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South. At age 12, shortly after his maternal grandmother died, King blamed himself and jumped out of a second story window, but survived.” Unsurprising to Luna she had obviously stumbled upon many words and phrases she did not quite understand. Two of those phrases being ‘African American’ and the other ‘Martin Luther King’. Luna delved deeper into the book until she arrived on a page labeled “U”. here, she saw that every bold word of each section started with that letter. Similar to a dictionary or a thesaurus, or even an encyclo–. Luna stopped in mid thought. Slowly, as if the translation spell would shatter if she moved it too fast, she marked her page and closed the book. Looking to the front cover she read the title, “World Book Encyclopedia 2016”, at the word encyclopedia, Luna nearly wished she had a brick wall to bang her head against. How did she not realize this beforehand? She was not quite sure. She reopened the massive encyclopedia back to the section she had left off on. Like before Luna skimmed over the various images and phrases she either didn’t know or had already taken the time to look at. Absorbing all the other information she could decipher such as a planet called Uranus, Perhaps that is where they come from, Luna thought. Minutes had passed and Luna reached a section in the book where the words started with: ‘Un’. Then something vaguely familiar caught her eye. A picture, as a matter of fact grabbed a hold of her and she couldn’t pull away. A globe, similar to the one that was given to her, flattened out and drawn in a grid like structure. around it was a set olive branches, and in the center were a set of shapes almost identical to the land masses around Equis, looking as if they were circling each other. Below this seemingly familiar picture was a set of bold words that read, “United Nations”. Luna bit the bottom of her lip and squinted her eyes, she began to skim through the passage below said image. While she read a nagging feeling began to gnaw away at the back of her mind, something telling her that she had seen this image before. That someone, or some friend, had told her about this before. If so, why couldn’t she remember it? The passage mentioned, or at least she thought it mentioned, something about world leaders joining together to create peace and to prevent what it said to be another World War from ever happening. Now this was new to her, but the image and name above still continued to bite into her skull. If she didn’t figure out where she seen this before soon, it was going to drive her mad. Knock, knock Luna’s ears perked up at the sound of several curt knocks that sounded from her ornate hardwood door, which was then followed up with the muffled voice of her guard, “Your Majesty, Princess Celestia is requesting your immediate attention. Whatever it is it seems to be the utmost importance.” “Very well then,” Luna said rising from her chair. “Where shall I meet her at?” “She’s in her study,” The muffled voice said. Luna went to her chamber door and opened it. “If that is the case,” She said looking down at the stallion by her door, “I shall relieve you of your duties for the time being.” The guard bowed his head and thanked her. Luna smiled at the guard as he turned to leave before retreating back into her room and locking it behind her. Turning around she gazed through the glass door that led to her bedroom’s balcony and watched over the western half of Canterlot. Across from that was Celestia’s tower which did the same for the east. Luna walked over to her balcony, opened the door, and stepped out onto it. From there she was greeted with the fresh scent of the cool, autumn air, which Luna took in with great ease. Breathing out, she closed her eyes and took this brief moment to think about what had happened over the course of last night. The massive meteorite that nearly took out the city, that actually turned out to be some form of giant vessel inhabited by bizarre creatures that seemed formidable, but with passable intentions. The meeting she had with said creatures not even a day ago sent an exciting thrill through her. Her heart began to race and she suddenly felt like a school yard filly who’d just caught glimpse of her crush. She breathed in once more. Not wanting to keep her sister waiting any longer, she unfolded her wings, and leapt off the balcony. :[-]: “Princess Luna,” The guard greeted as he pushed open the door to Celestia’s personal study, “Her Highness is waiting for you in her personal library.” “Thank you, Sunlight,” Luna smiled at the guard who merely bowed in response. Luna stepped into her sister’s study. A large circular room with its walls filled with maps, shelves, and even a fireplace in the northern half. Around said fireplace were two chairs, and a coffee table sat on a highly decorated carpet. To Luna’s right was a miniature library where she could see her sister roaming up and down the aisles, anxiously pullingripping books off the shelves and ruffling through themopening them up, only to become flustered and not so gently push slam them back into their rightful spots. “Sister, is everything alright?” Luna raised an eyebrow towards the agitated alicorn. Celestia looked to Luna. “Oh thank goodness, Luna you’re here!” Celestia exclaimed as she dropped all the books that were in her grasp. “You’re just the pony I wanted to see, please follow me I have something I want to show you.” Celestia made her way towards her, and as she drew near Luna noticed a set of bags under her sister’s eyes. Clearly she had stayed up well past her usual bed-time as well. “It’s up here.” Celestia motioned with one of her wings to a staircase on the west side of the room. “What is it you want to show me?” Luna asked, following behind her sister as they ascended to the second floor. Celestia didn’t answer; instead, she continued onward. Upon reaching the top of the stairs she turned to Luna and motioned her head towards a rather large metal chunk of the vehicle that had fallen from the sky the night prior. The piece was about the size of her hoof, with gnarled edges and a silverish black sheen, set carefully on a thick cork mat that was positioned in the center of her sister’s ornate desk. Around it was Celestia had a crowded arrangement of geology books, test tubes, and viewing equipment. Sitting on the floor beside the chair was a knocked over journal riddled with her sister’s notes. Luna approached the desk and celestia decided to speak while her sister examined the object. “It took the stallions in Fillydelphia hours to figure out how to cut that piece off the original. Even the most talented unicorns and their spells had trouble getting through it.” Luna lifted the metal chunk into the air with her magic. Holding a lone hoof out she placed the piece onto it and let her magic fizzle out so that she could better acquaint herself with its weight. Luna’s eyes widened and she let out a small “oof” as her hoof wavered and she was forced to drop the object onto the ground. A loud thud and a brand new chip in the spotless the freshly chipped pieces of marble floor only emphasized how heavy it was. “Sorry sister,” Luna quickly apologized, “I did not expect it to be so heavy.” Celestia chuckled and strolled up beside her sister. “Do not let its size fool you sister, it is as heavy as it is strong.” Celestia levitated the chunk off the floor and set it back on the desk. “What is it made of?” Luna asked, stepping a bit closer to the desk, she leaned forward to get a better look at it. “We don’t know. Our subjects in Fillydelphia claim that it’s a combination of precious minerals and metals that we presume can be found in our planet’s core. Though that is only a theory. I myself have never stumbled upon such alien compounds. At least, not since–” Celestia silenced herself and took a deep breath. Turning away from the desk she walked over to a small chest sitting underneath the largest window in the room. A window overlooking the valley where Ponyville resided. Luna took her eyes off the chunk and looked over at Celestia. “Since when?” Celestia magicked the chest open and levitated out a bundle of yellowing cloth that must have taken up at least a third of the storage room the chest could afford. “It was a millennium ago, back when Nightmare Moon was was still a recent memory.” Celestia turned and came back over to the desk with the bundle in tow. “Three large objects of unknown origin fell out of the sky in a massive fireball like no meteor I’ve ever seen..” “Just like last night?” Luna asked, wondering why Celestia hadn’t told her this before. Celestia nodded. “Similar, but not quite the same. Each of the three objects landed in separate locations, the first crashed just outside the small town of Hoofington,–” Luna gasped. “That’s where Starswirl lived.” Again Celestia nodded. “–Shortly thereafter another landed at the base of Canterlot, the other... I have no idea where the last one landed. I believe now as I believed then that it landed somewhere in the sea.” Celesta pushed the original metal object to the side of the desk and sat the object in her magic onto the table; grasping one end of the loose cloth, she began to unwrap it. “However,” she continued, “only one pony was able to retrieve a piece of these fallen objects.” A confused look crossed Luna. “How come?” Celestia shrugged. She finished unwrapping the object and she set the old cloth aside, there, she levitated a small black piece of black metal in the air. Smaller than the chunk on the mat, the piece was jagged around the edges and only a bit bigger than a playing card. Starting at one end was a blotch of faded, white symbols that looked to have been cut off at the edge. “I don’t know, Luna. It’s as if the one in Hoofington was dug up and taken before the guard could arrive on scene. The one at the base of this mountain vanished overnight. Again it was as if somepony came and dug it up.” Luna pursed her lips and stretched her wings out to loosen the cramp that had formed f before folding them back up. Celestia held the small shard up to the light and examined it. “So who was the pony that found that bit?” Celestia flashed an eye at Luna. “This?” she asked lowering the shard down to eye level. Luna nodded her head; Celestia grinned. “An old friend of mine gave this to me. I don’t know if you met her or not. You were probably too young to even remember. Her name was Clover, Clover the Clever. She dug it out from under a rock before the Royal Guard arrived.” Celestia placed the shard beside the metal chunk. “The mare found this bit fascinating,” She said. “For years she and Star Swirl studied this shard trying to figure out what it was and where it came from.” Celestia took the chair from in front of the desk and rolled it behind her so that she could sit down. “The two of them worked together for many years after that, seemingly chasing something that evaded them at every turn. Always talking about some ancient species even I have never heard of... Huh, what did they call them?” Luna took her eyes off Celestia and glanced around for a chair of her own. Sadly there was naught but a stepping stool in the corner so she chose to sit back on her haunches instead. “Ancient species?” “Yeah,” Celestia said, “Something that predates our existence. I believe they called them... Humuns?” “Humanes?” “Yeah, something along those lines.” Celestia shrugged and leaned forward, she looked back towards the shard. “I remember Clover telling me what the symbols meant.” She lifted the shard off the table in her magic. “–ited Nations. I think she said.” “United Nations?” Luna corrected without thinking. Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” “It’s supposed to say United Nations, I read it from the book the creatures gave me.” Losing concentration on her magic, Celestia dropped the shard onto the floor. “Excuse me?” She asked again. “Wait, you don’t know my stallions and I made first contact?” Celestia’s eyes widened and she immediately stood up. “By Mother’s name, Luna, how’d it go?” Luna leaned backwards surprised by her sister’s sudden reaction. “It went great... I think. The creatures were very territorial but they did appear to be organized in some manner.” “What else did you learn? What do they look like?” Celestia asked. Luna had never seen her sister act quite like this, save for the filly days, she reminded her of Twilight Sparkle whenever she discovered something new. “well, um, they were tall and slim, well some of them were. A lot of them were bulky and seemed quite strong, whereas a few seemed to have most of their bulk in the middle and didn’t seem as lively..” Luna watched as Celestia levitated a note pad and quill in front of herself and began writing. “Keep going Luna.” “Alright, a vast majority of them were wearing camouflage garments of some sort and they all had some sort of clear shield covering their face attached to what looked like a breathing tube, and uhhh… oh! They carried these strange metallic k shaped objects.” “K shaped objects?” Celestia said, tapping the quill against her chin. “Could it be some sort of tool, maybe even a weapon of some sorts?” “Maybe, there were also these giant cyclopean like creatures–” “Cyclops?!” Celestia quickly lowered the note pad and glared at Luna. “Luna, don’t tell me they’re ba–” “Sister,” Luna got back onto her hooves. “You have it wrong, I said Cyclopean like, meaning that it only had one eye. Other than that this creature was made entirely out of metal, almost like a golem.” Celestia softened and sat back down. “Sorry Luna, you worried me for a second.” She steadied her breath. “A golem?” She asked questioningly. “Yes. A giant one eyed creature made almost entirely out of black metal.” Celestia looked at the black metal shard and chunk. “Could it be made out of the same materials as those?” Luna shrugged. “Most likely.” Celestia leaned back in her chair, the quill was back to tapping at the bottom of her chin. “How did you say they acted again?” “They were very territorial.” “What about when you approached them... did you approach any of them?” “Yes, and from what I saw they were very paranoid when I got close. I assume they didn’t like my presence.” “If I were tasked with making first contact with an alien species, I’d be paranoid myself.” Celestia admitted. “I felt the same. Especially after they released their captives.” “Captives?” Celestia leaned forward once more, she took the pad and quill and set them aside. “Yes, remember the four guards I told you went missing?” Celestia nodded. “Thankfully they had no long lasting injuries, but from what I saw... I believe they were experimented on.” Celestia’s eyes widened. “Wait, you mean...” “Yes. They were tested on, one of the guards, Heart String I believe his name was. Had large amounts of blood taken from him, we also found that Aurora Dawn was intoxicated with something we do not know of, and finally we found a small blinking object on the back of Lt. Skylar’s neck.” Celestia couldn’t quite understand what she was hearing. “What about the fourth? What happened to him?” “Officer Black was interrogated by the creatures. So he claims. He mentioned that they attached some sort of device to his head, and started playing card games with him. Afterwards he says he attempted an escape but the object on his head caused his spell to backfire and make his captors fall into an incomprehensible frenzy.” “What happened next?” “He told me he doesn’t remember what happened after that. He said the last thing he remembered was having a bag over his head and something hitting him. Though upon inspection the bruise was not very severe.” Luna ruffled her wings. “That’s terrible.” Celestia shook her head. “When the creatures released them. They didn’t look too proud of themselves, at least that’s what I hope I saw.” An uncomfortable silence surrounded them, each unsure about what to say next. When Luna looked at Celestia she appeared to be troubled. As if something was slowly eating away at her. Finally, she broke the silence. “Luna, you mentioned they gave you a book?” “Yes and they gave me a globe!” Luna said rather excitedly, glad to be off such a dark topic. Celestia raised an eyebrow her mood appearing unchanged. “A globe?” “Yes a globe of Equis,” Purposefully breaking eye contact, “though it’s quite different from the one you have over there.” Luna pointed with a free hoof towards a large globe on a golden stand. “Different as in how?” “The land masses are shaped slightly different, but still recognizable, as if they were pieces of clay stretched and molded. There are also an abundance of border lines, all in different places than the ones on Equis.” She explained. “Could you bring them here?” Celestia asked while standing up from her chair, her tone taking an even darker turn. “Of course, sister.” Luna stood up. “You’re really going to find the book interesting.” “I bet I will,” Celestia turned her back on Luna as her sister started down the stairs. Luna paused. “Is something wrong, Sister?” “I’m alright, Luna, just go and get those gifts,” She said, putting up a cheerful facade. Luna frowned, unconvinced that something wasn’t bothering her sister. She opened her mouth to say something, then on second thought, closed it and continued down the stairs. She had only managed to make a single step before celestia spoke up again. “Oh, and Luna.” Celestia added, a hesitant, but fiery quality filling her sister’s voice. “Could you please request that one of the guards retrieve Lt. Skylar for me?” Luna’s eyes widened for a brief moment before she stiffened, the tone of Celestia’s voice making it clear that whatever happened to those captured ponies didn't sit well with her. Luna relaxed and nodded. “Yes sister.” When Luna left, Celestia sighed. “I had a feeling things wouldn’t go so well.” Editor’s notes PhiliChez: Things are happening, and suddenly Celestia sounds like one who has a thing for suppressing knowledge with an evil laugh! I am suddenly suspicious of the fact that Luna recognized the UN symbol but couldn’t remember anything else. Or maybe not. Isaac3924: I powered through this fic for all of you readers. I’m stuck in Texas with my dad, and shitty internet. I’m heading to San Antonio tomorrow, and it’s 5 AM….. So much for going back to a normal sleep schedule…… On an unrelated note, I’m now 21, birthday was on the 28th. And I spent the first few hours alone. Stuck in a hospital. ‘Cause dad is doctor. And I don’t have a car in Texas. Wheeeeeeeeee. So yeah. But I hope I made up for not finishing the editing with the previous chapter with this one. Y’all enjoy. I need sleep now. Teslaponie: This chapter was a long one to edit. Took a few weeks of stop-go work to get it to this point, but I think it was worth it. For a chapter where the actual shit after first contact goes down it’s pretty important. Not to mention that we are wrapping up the end of the “contact” arc, and that the next arc includes some pretty big bouts of equestrain / historical worldbuilding.