//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The best/worst birthday ever // Story: The lost one // by The Lutece twins //------------------------------// BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! The alarm clock went off, telling a certain alicorn in bed to wake up. Nova gear grunted as he put a pillow over his head to drown out the noise but it was to no avail. He then threw the pillow at the alarm clock knocking it onto the metal floor, ceasing the infernal beeping. Nova sat up yawning and stretched. He stretched his wings to get the stiffness out of them. He got out of his bed onto all fours and shook his body to wake up more. He walks over to the bathroom and does his morning rituals. After he put on his clothes that had a insignia that told him that he was the son of the captain. He walks out of the bathroom and looks at the holo calendar hanging on the wall and saw that today was his birthday. He smiles as he trots out of his room and works his way to the cafeteria, saying hello to everybody and pony he met. It has been a few days since Jonathon became a alicorn and went by the name of Nova gear. He also let healing wave and the other doctors and ponies augment on him, which was a total success. He is now stronger than the normal ponies, can fly faster than the pegasi, and can summon the most advance spells without any problems. He turned around the corner towards the cafeteria and saw a female normal pony having trouble carrying a large stack of holo discs. "Do you need some help?" Nova asked the pony. The pony slightly jumped at the sound of Nova's voice and looked at Nova with a nervous look. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spook you." Nova said. "No, no, it's fine, I should have been more careful and should have carried less holo discs. Heh heh." The female pony laughed nervously. "Yea I can see that." Nova joked. "Any way, the names Nova gear." He said, holding out a hoof. "The names database." She said, shaking Nova's hoof. "And I see that your the pegacorn that everypony's been talking about. It's a honor to meet you." She said, giving a salute. "Thank you. Now then, let's see if I can help you with those holo discs." Nova said lifting the discs that were on the floor with his magic. "Thank you, and please, set them in the saddlebags around my waist. That's where the rest of them are." Data said. Nova nods and places the discs in database's saddle bags. "Thank you." Data said. "No problem." Nova nodded. "Well, see you than database." Nova said. Data nodded and walked off. Nova smiled and walked into the cafeteria. He looked around and saw people and ponies talking with each other. Some of the people and ponies looked at him, but everyone and pony else were busy. "Nova, over here!" A familiar voice said. Nova looked and saw his father sitting at a table with some of the bridges crew, some human, some ponies, waving at him. Nova nodded, grabbed a tray with some toast and a glass of Orange juice, and walked towards his father. "Hello dad!" Nova said happily as he sat in a specialized chair for ponies. "Hows my little pegacorn doing?" Nova's dad smiled "I'm doing good, the augmentations were a complete success." Nova said. Nova's dad nodded in agreement. "I heard about that. And I want to tell you that, I am so proud of you Jonathan. Now I know that you want to be called Nova, but today is your birthday, so I wouldn't mind calling you Jonathan." Dad said. As they talked, some of the crew members and ponies left to head back to their stations. "Ok, now before I head back to the bridge Jonathan, I have something for you." Dad said, reaching over the side of his chair and pulled out a small box. "Now this has been in our family for generations, when my grandfather passed it down to my father, and when he passed it down to me. Now I am passing it down to you." He said, scooting the box across the table. Nova blinked and looked at the box. He opened up the box and saw a old dagger. The dagger had two golden protrusions on each side of the blade with a pearl in the middle of the dagger. He lifted the dagger with his magic and slid the blade out of the sheath. He saw the words "never give up without a fight" engraved on both sides of the blade. Nova slid it back into the sheath and looked at dad. "Ar-are you sure that you want to give this to me dad?" Nova asked, sounding unsure about this. "Yes, I am sure. I think your ready to carry it." He said. "I, don't know what to say, but this," Nova said as he hugged his father. "Thank you dad, this is the best birthday gift ever." He said. Nova's dad chuckled and hugged Nova back. Nova released his father and got off the chair. "Ok, I need to head back to the bridge, stay safe, all right Jonathan?" Dad said as he got off the chair. Nova nodded and grabbed the box holding the dagger with his magic. "I will dad." Nova said. Dad nodded and headed back to the bridge. Nova exited the cafeteria a few minutes later and headed back to his room. As he headed back, he whistled a catchy tune from a old band that he liked on YouTube. He saw other ponies and people fix panels, doors, and other electrical appliances that wasn't working or had malfunctioned. He made it to his room and entered it. He set the box down next to his candy stash. He got up on his bed and grabbed a old photograph picture of him, his father, and his mother. As he looked at this picture, tears started to appear in his eyes. "I... I miss you mother." Nova said as a tear hit the picture. He hugged the picture as tears fell down his muzzle. He puts the picture back on the table next to his bed and wiped the tears from his muzzle. As he was about to get off his bed, the whole starship shook horribly, knocking Nova off his bed and onto the floor. "Ow," Nova said as the ships alarm went off. A asteroid has hit the ship, I repeat, a asteroid has hit the ship. The guidance system has malfunctioned and the ship is drifting into a asteroid belt. Please evacuate the starship, i repeat, please evacuate the starship. "That's dad's voice!" Nova yells. Nova quickly grabbed the biggest bag he could find in his room and put everything he needed, his candy stash, his photo of his family, his father's gift, some of his modified clothes that can fit his pony body, and other important stuff. After he checked his room to make sure that he wasn't forgetting anything he slung the bag over his body and ran out of the room, just as the ship shook violently again, causing Nova to stumble. He took a quick peek out side the view port window and saw big rocks whizzing by at fast speeds. Nova quickened his pace and ran towards the special escape pods ment for him and his father. As he reached the escape pods, the ship shook again. He quickly got in, set his bag down and activated the escape pod. The escape pod shot out of the ship, causing Nova to be pressed against the seat. As he shot out of the ship he speed away far from the asteroids as possible. When he was far enough away he turned the thrusters off and spun the escape pod around and gasped. Nova saw asteroid after asteroid hit the ship. He turned on the ships holo communicator and he saw his dad pop up. "Dad, get out of there!" Nova yells. "I know, but we need to get this ship out of the asteroid belt. Turn that gear the other way! Son, stay out there until we can get this ship out of the asteroid belt. And son," Nova's dad said, sounding out of breath. "Yes dad?" Nova asked. "I love you son. No! Put that over GAAAAAH!-" the transition cut off and Nova looked up, only to see a massive explosion, caused by a massive asteroid, destroy the ship. "DAAAAAAAD!!!!" Nova screamed. As the explosion cleared, Nova pressed the button to his communicator. "Dad, come in dad," he said, releasing the button. Nothing but static came through. He pressed the button again. "Dad, come in dad, please." He said again. Nothing but static again. Tears appear on Nova's face as he realised that his dad, was dead. "D-dad, n-n-n-no. No! NOOOOO!!" He screams as he cries into his hooves. His ear flicked when he heard some sort of beeping. He looked up and saw a green light flash in front of him. He pushes the green button and a hologram of his father appears. "Dad! I am so glad that your-" he began, smiling "Son, if your hearing this, then that means that I am gone." the hologram said. Nova's smile faltered when he realised that he was not listening to his father, but his will. Tears started to appear on his face again. "Son, I want to tell you, that I am so proud of you, especially when you underwent ponification. You made me so proud that day, becoming the first pegacorn ever recorded in ponification history. I shall never forget that day. Now, let's get on with this. First off, I would like to make you the captain of the Hermes," as soon as the hologram said that, the insignia on Nova's clothes changed from being the captain's son, to captain. "Second, I would like to give you my war medals, inside your bag the next you open it, you will find a box containing my medals, including my purple heart medal. Now I know that you don't know what to do with these, but please, take really good care of them. They are my prized collection. And finally, I want to tell you that, when we returned home, I was going to under go ponification. I was going to join you once we got back, but know that will never happen. Before this will ends, I want to say that I am so proud of you. Remember our motto: 'don't go into things yourself, but your friends will lead you far." The hologram will ended there and Nova had tears running down his face as he cried in his hooves again. He activated the escape pod thrusters and flew off in a direction. Nova cried for a while before he fell asleep. As he slept he dreamed of the amusement park again. He didn't know why, but he felt happy. Just as the fireworks went off again he saw the flash of light again. He squinted and saw the pony in the light again, but this time more clearly. He could see that this pony was also a pegacorn. "Who are you!?" He yells at the pony. But before the pony could speak, he was woken up immediately by the escape pod blaring a alarm, telling him that he was entering a planet's atmosphere. He quickly saw a planet that looked like earth in front of him. Nova's hoofs were a blur as he pushed buttons to activate the escape pods landing sequence. But just as the flaps deployed to move the ship through the air of the planet, they where sheared off by speed he was going through the atmosphere. "Buck!" He yelled as he flew over the land. 'i'm coming in too hot!' He thought as he looked out the escape pods window. He saw a old rustic like village with what looked like a Crystal castle fly below him. Nova calculated that he will crash into the hill just outside the town. He tried to pulled up on the controls, but the ground was too close. "Well, buck!" Was the last thing he said before the pod crashed into the ground, causing him to launch forward and slam his muzzle into the control board, knocking him unconscious. TO BE CONTINUED