//------------------------------// // Manufactured for Success // Story: No Pony's Sky // by Vertigo22 //------------------------------// Star Chaser sat in his ship. His eyes were red from crying, and his head ached. “You feel any better?” Eon asked. “A little,” Star replied as he stared blankly at the ship's steering wheel. He let out a sigh and sat back in his seat. “Though my head feels like it's going to explode.” “I wish I didn't find that somewhat saddening,” Eon said. “Maybe you should get some sleep. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning.” “I'm not tired,” Star answered. “It isn't like I've ever relied on much sleep in my time out here anyway. Right?” “Star, get some sleep or I'll cut off your oxygen supply until you're knocked out.” “You're just going straight to the threats, huh?” “You spent fifteen minutes crying,” Eon said. “I'd be doing you a favor.” Star let out a sigh of defeat and lay back in his chair. “You're right,” he said. “Of course I am.” Star ignored the AI and shut his eyes. Within a few minutes, he was asleep. --- Star awoke the next morning with a skull splitting headache. “Shit, that hurts,” he said as he rubbed his temples. “Good morning, princess,” Eon said. “Feel any better?” “Aside from the headache? A little.” “Ah, so you're already in a bad mood I see?” “Yep.” “Then I guess I shouldn't break the news to you.” Star's eyes shot open. “What's wrong?” Thud. Thud. Star turned around and looked out the back of the ship. A bulky, beige, creature with a turtle-like head nudged the tail of ship. It had a large, dark yellow shell on its back, and it skin appeared somewhat rough. It's forelegs were bulky and powerful looking, while its hindlegs were similar to that of a bird. “No, no, NO!” Star screamed. He popped open the ship's hatch and grabbed his multi-tool. “Piss off you freak!” The creature turned its head. Its short, thick tail swung slowly from side to side as it stared curiously at Star. Star aimed his multi-tool at the creature and scanned it. Isdatun Ontuvio Temperament: Unconcerned Diet: Oxide Elements Weight: 99.05kg Height: 2.05m “At least you won't eat me,” Star said to himself. “Star, are you going to do anything with the animal?” Eon asked. “Or are you going to go to that manufacturing plant you detected yesterday?” “Oh shit,” Star said. “I forgot about that.”Star levitated a small rock to himself and threw it at the animal. “Piss off!” The creature head-butted Star and ran off. “Nice work,” Eon said. “And you wonder why animals hate you.” “I… figured it would get spooked and ran off.” Star got up and dusted himself off. “I still have your respect from last night despite that, right?” “Most of it.” “Damn it.” Star hopped back into his ship and turned it on. “No fuel available for take off,” Eon said. “Maybe I should've alerted you about this earlier. Oops.” “Crap…” --- One mining excursion later Star walked back to his ship, covered from head to toe in dust. He shook the dust off and popped open the ship's hatch. He hopped into it and groaned. “Eon.” “Yes?” “Did I ever tell you that I hate mining?” “Once or twice.” “Just making sure.” Star placed some Plutonium into an opening in his ship. He turned the ship on and took off. “Okay, to that manufacturing plant.” “What do you think's there?” “Hopefully something worth taking.” “You sound like a pirate.” Star chuckled. “Well, I have taken a fair amount of stuff while out here,” he said. “All of those Gek Charms weren't dug up!” “Or your multi-tool.” “I won it fair and square.” “You punched a Gek after it spit on your shoe and threw a deck of cards at you.” “It clearly wanted to play 'Dodge the Hoof Flying Towards Your Face’.” “Ever wonder if the Gek have you as one of their ten most wanted criminals?” “No,” Star said. “But how you that you mention it, I do.” “What do you think it says?” “Probably something like, 'Navgra ilk por turiz lek ves zem eck’!” Star said in a mock-Gek voice. “And now in Equestrian?” Eon asked. “Uhhh… psychotic pony wanted for assaulting numerous Gek. Be advised, he is armed and dangerous.” “That's more words than what you said in your terrible Gek voice.” “I don't know a damn word of their language!” Star snapped. “Stop judging me!” Eon chuckled. “I'm glad to see you're back to your old self.” Star landed just outside of a large building. “Let's not get ahead of ourselves,” he said as he popped the hatch to the ship. “I still have that headache.” Star walked up to the front door to the manufacturing plant and tried to open it. “Oh, come on!” “It looks like it's locked,” Eon said. “Did you ever make that Boltcaster?” “No,” Star said. He took out the blueprint and looked it over. “Twenty five iron and twenty five plutonium.” Star looked in his inventory and groaned. “Eon, remind me to never go someplace without iron ever again.” “Why? There's always a rock on a planet somewhere.” Star trotted over to a rock and fired his multi-tool’s mining laser at it. “Yeah, but doing this frustrates me to no end,” He said as he mined some iron. “Doesn't help this stupid shit only has fifteen slots.” “You could always buy more from a store.” “How many units do I have?” “Nine hundred and fifty. You haven't uploaded some of your discoveries to the Atlas though.” Star hit a button on his multi-tool that brought up a screen which showed the animals he'd scanned. He hit a button on the screen with a hoof to upload the data. Then the screen turned blue. “Warning: Error CE-34878-0,” Eon said. “Would you like to try again?” “Stupid thing,” Star said as he began to put his boltcaster chip together. “I'll worry about that later.” “I still don't trust you with that thing,” Eon said. “Kind of like an irresponsible teenager babysitting.” “It was you who reminded me to build it,” Star said as he finished the chip. He inserted the chip into the multi-tool and twitched to the boltcaster function. “So it's your fault.” “I hate when you're right,” Eon said. “I hate that you're right about this more.” Star chuckled to himself. “To add salt to your wound, I just remembered that I could've blown this thing down with my magic.” “I really hate myself right now,” Eon said. Star aimed the multi-tool at the door and fired it. Dozens of green bolts shot out of the firearm and struck the door, which exploded after a few seconds. “Warning: Sentinels inbound.” “Okay, I wasn't planning on those robotic freaks coming,” Star said as he ran into the building. An alarm blared, and a red light filled the room. “Okay, what exactly do I check?” He asked as he looked around the room. “There's a terminal over there,” Eon said. “Looks like that one we found covered in that creepy fungus.” Star ran over and activated it. “Come on, come on!” He growled. “Hey, Star,” Eon said. “Someone's at the door.” Star looked up from the terminal. “Son of a bitch,” he growled. In the doorway was a floating robot, spherical in shape, and grey in color. A red light glowed in the middle. It fired off several laser bolts, a few of which struck Star. Star drew his multi-tool and aimed it at the Sentinel. Click. “Why couldn't this be like the mining laser and just overheat?” “Because that's a laser beam and this isn't.” Star ducked behind the terminal and reloaded the boltcaster. “Hey, Star?” “It's behind me, isn't it?” Several laser bolts struck star in the back. “Warning: shields at twenty five percent.” Star sounds around and slammed the Sentinel with his multi-tool, which sent it crashing into the wall. “These things are more annoying than gnats. They always ruin my fun.” “Warning: more Sentinels inbound,” Eon said. “You may want to inspect that terminal now before you end up becoming one with the planet.” Star ran to the terminal and frantically hit its various functions. “Uhhh… it wants a code.” “Try four zeroes.” Star input the code. “Holy crap, it worked!” “Wait what?!” Star looked over the terminals message. “Wait, this is a signal to a mining crew on another planet,” he said. “Wait, I just helped the Gek? No!” “Maybe now they won't shoot you if you step hoof onto one of their space stations,” Eon said. “Yeah, but they're so ugly and creepy,” Star said. “And somehow still taller than me.” “Hey, Star, there's something on the terminal,” Eon said. “A blueprint.” Star looked at the terminal and accepted the gift offered by the Gek. “Antimatter?” He asked as the alarm finally shut off. “You need that to make warp cores,” Eon said. “By the way: Sentinels deactivated.” “So, wait, what do I need exactly to make warp cores?” “Antimatter and Thamium 9.” “Oh, that's easy!” “To make Antimatter, you need Electron Vapor, Heridium, and Zinc.” “Okay, that's rather irritating.” “To make an Electron Vapor, you need Suspension Fluid and Plutonium.” “Eon, please stop.” “To make Suspension Fluid, you need carbon.” “Oh, that's easy enough.” “Then get to work.” “Do I have the recipe for those last two?” “You have the recipe for Electron Vapor, but not Suspension Fluid,” Eon said. “You can buy them however.” Star tapped his chin with a hoof. “Any idea where I can get the recipe for that whatchamacallit fluid?” “Suspension Fluid,” Eon said. “And no.” “Welp, time to find some!” Star declared as he left the building. He walked towards a crate and pile of debris. He fired a magic bolt at it, which caused them to explode. He trotted over to the crated and levitated a bright, green orb up to himself. “Oh, hey, Suspension Fluid,” Eon said. It then turned to ash. “Hah!” Star groaned. “This is going to take forever!” He whined. “Well, you could always find a galactic vendor and try to buy one if them,” Eon said. “You know, like any sensible person.” “I barely have any units.” “Upload your discoveries and maybe scan some of the plants and rocks around here,” Eon said. “Those will fetch you a bit of money too.” Star aimed his multi-tool at a rock. Sure enough, a notification above a model of the rock on his visual analyzer stated he could upload it to the Atlas for five hundred units. “This shouldn't take too long,” Star said. “Though, question, do I gave any Heridium or Zinc?” “Negative.” “I take what I said back,” Star said. “This is going to be a nightmare.” --- Thirty minutes later. Star had scanned every nook and cranny a pony could imagine. From the smallest rock to the tallest cactus. He’d also mined every large pillar of Heridium and picked Zinc and Thamium 9 off of various flowers he'd seen. Too bad he'd forgotten one tiny detail. “Eon, where did we land?” “My sensors indicate the ship is about twenty minutes from here.” “How did I get so far from it?!” “You were jumping around like you had springs for hooves and wouldn't stop.” Star let out a frustrated sigh. “Damn it.” “It's your own fault.” “Be quiet.” --- Twenty minutes later. Star landed softly near his ship when he noticed a creature staring at his ship. It looked like a deer, and its skin was reddish-brown, though parts of it body seemed to be comprised of red scales. It had a few brown spikes on its back, and while its forelegs ended in hooves, its hind legs ended in bizarre smudges. Star frowned. He took out his multi-tool and switched it to the boltcaster. He aimed it at the creature and shot it until it died. “Was that really necessary?” Eon asked. “It wasn't like it was trying to eat your ship.” “Would you have preferred me to have thrown a rock at it and gotten head-butted again?” “Well, it would've been funnier.” “You would've also berated me.” “Fair enough.” Star hopped into his ship and started the ship up. “So, where should I go look for Suspension Fluid?” “Go try the space station,” Eon said. “Maybe if you're lucky, that Gek put a good word in for you.” “Okay,” Star said as he took off and flew towards the space station. “Though, don't you think they'll be mad a few of their pilots crashed into meteors while chasing me?” “You ask me expecting me to know?” “Yes.” “I don't.” “Crap.” Star flew into the space station and landed in the back. “Well, I guess I'm on my own.” “Hey now. You have your good pal, Eon.” “Now I know I'm fucked,” Star said as he entered a similar office to the one he'd been in on the other space station. “Uh, hey there.” The Gek lowered a chart and looked at it. “Fabarga nav kilk por izg,” it said as it pointed to the chart. “You want me to use that?” Star asked as he pointed to the chart. The Gek pointed to a button which read, “multi-tool.” “I think wants you to give it your multi-tool,” Eon. “For the sake of not being shot at again, I think you should it yours.” Star let out a groan and handed the Gek his multi-tool. “You break it and I'll turn you into a jigsaw puzzle.” The Gek laughed and inspected the multi-tool. It tossed it aside, which broke it, and handed Star a new one. “Uhhh… thanks,” Star said as he examined the new multi-tool. It resembled an assault rifle and was a sickly green. “I greatly appreciate it, even if your taste in color is atrocious.” The Gek clapped its hands excitedly and let out a wonderful smell. “Can I shoot it?” “No.” “Please?” “Maybe after you buy the Suspension Fluid.” Star walked over to a machine on the wall and hit a button. “Okay, let's see,” he said as he flipped through a few pages. “Ah-hah!” “How much is it?” Eon asked.. “Six thousand units.” “Well, there goes every unit you have!” “I hate my life,” Star said as he bought the item. “Okay, time to make this crap,” he said. “Just think Star,” Eon said. “When you get the recipe for the fluid, you can make them all on your own.” “Yeah, and I'll still want to bash my head against a rock.” “Crybaby.” Star finished making the warp core. “Can it, Eon,” he said. “And let's leave.” “What’s your problem?” “That headache I woke up with did me no favors for being shot at and having to mine a bunch of crap,” Star said as he walked down a long hallway. “Also, did this space station have the same architect as the other one?” “I'm astounded you actually observed something that wasn't related to units,” Eon said “Am I not allowed to observe something?” Star asked as he entered the landing bay. “I just found it odd is all.” Star walked over to his ship and popped the hatch. “Well, deal with it,” he said as he entered his ship. “Fine, allow me to change the topic," Eon said. “Exactly how are you going to pick your next star system? Are you going to blindly pick one and have fun?” “Damn straight!” Star said as he turned his ship on. “What happened to wanting to get home?” “Oh, I do,” Star said as he flew out into the vacuum of space. “But I feel it'll be fun to explore now that we're a little closer.” Eon remained silent for a few seconds before saying, “We're so going to get lost.” “No we won't,” Star said. “I promise.” “I’m gonna write my will now.”