//------------------------------// // Learning A New Language // Story: No Pony's Sky // by Vertigo22 //------------------------------// “So let me get this straight,” Eon said. “You want to go home, yet you want to also explore because I said I have a bit more respect for you?” Star Chaser looked at his galactic map. Hundreds of stars filled it as he looked for his next destination. “Well, we'll have to explore to find things to get to home, right?” He asked. “I figure that an occasional break from looking for stuff can't hurt.” “Oh, that's not what I figured you meant.” Star selected a star system and sat back as the ship warped there. “What? Did you think I was going to go backwards?” “Kind of,” Eon said. “You did say you were going to pick out a random star system as your means of getting home.” “Well, I have no idea where Equus is.” “You’ve said that before,” Eon said. “Stop saying it.” “I'm sorry.” “It's fine,” Eon said. “By the way, does that new multi-tool have everything you need?” “Oh, crap, thanks for reminding me.” Star took out the multi-tool and checked. “Yep! It does,” he said. “I still wish your let me shoot that damn Gek though.” “That old multi-tool was three years old,” Eon said. “If anything, that Gek did you a favor.” “Fair enough point,” Star said as the ship arrived by a few enormous space freighters. “So, what's this star system called?” “Gaeseonjuku-Ettsu.” “Sounds exotic,” Star said as he used his scanner. “Ooh, there's a blueprint on that planet,” he said as he steered his ship towards a dry looking planet. “What do you think it's for?” He asked as he pulse jumped towards it. “It's probably something worthless,” Eon said. “Some stupid blueprint for your jetpack.” “You're just jealous because you don't get the satisfaction I do when I leap over a cliff and land safely on the other side,” Star said as the ship broke through the planet's atmosphere. “Holy crap, this planet looks like shit!” Star exclaimed as he got a good look at the less than pleasant sight. The planet's surface was completely barren. Harsh winds swept up dust, and rocks covered the ground like autumn leaves. The land off in the distance was mountainous. Star landed the ship a short distance from a ruined, dust covered building. “Star, I must warn you,” Eon said. “My sensors indicate the planet is extremely hot. I recommend finding something to help your suits thermal power while here.” “Oh, come on, how hot can it be?” Star pipped his ship's hatch. A blast of hot air blew against him as he did so. “Oh, sweet Celestia!” He yelled as his suit scrambled to cool itself. “The air is hotter than a room full of hormonal colts and fillies!” “Thanks, Star. I truly needed that image.” “You're very welcome,” Star said his suit finally cooled itself off. “Okay, what's the planet called?” He asked as he walked towards the building. “Nuriholareyr-Zef.” “What a name,” Star said as he looked up at the sky, which was yellowish and cloudy. “This planet is like Tartarus, only with less evil beings.” “Don't jinx it,” Eon said. “Even I'm somewhat afraid as to what might be here.” “Wow, the big, brave Eon is afraid,” Star said as he walked towards the building. “I'm absolutely shocked.” “Hey, it's perfectly natural,” Eon said. “Even if I can't feel any real emotion… so maybe it isn't actually natural.” Star walked into the building. The inside was dusty, and wires were exposed. A faint, red light glimmered in a corner, which illuminated a portion of a terminal. Near it was another terminal that had a medical cross on it. “Geez, even indoors, it feels like I'm being cooked alive,” Star said as he walked up to the terminal. He hit a button and a blueprint popped up. “Huh, a thermal warmer,” Star said. “Well, I won't complain.” “Maybe the planet's sentient and wants to eat you.” “Sure, and I'm Celestia's child,” Star said as he looked around the room. “Is that really it?” “Looks like it,” Eon said. “By the way, your thermal levels are are at seventy five percent.” “Yeah, I think I'm fine,” Star said as he left the building. He hit his scanner and noticed an odd icon appears not too far from him. It was purple, but the tip center portion was white—as though it was a light. “What do you think that is?” Star asked. “I don't know,” Eon said. “Why don't you go check it out.” Star ran over to the strange object.. “I hope it's something worthwhile.” Upon his arrival, Star saw a small, grey, object. It had a bright light near the top, and a few strange runes on it. Star stared at the object in confusion. “What is that?” “I don't know,” Eon said. “Can you scan it?” Star took out his multi-tool and attempted to scan it. “Nope,” he said. “I feel oddly compelled to touch it though.” “Are you sure that's a good idea?” Eon asked. “I feel like it'll turn you into ash.” “Only one way to found out,” Star said as he approached the object. He placed a hoof on it. Dozens of Gek voices filled the explorers head, each of which said a single word, until one remained. Friend, the voice repeated over and over. Star staggered back and fell onto his haunches. “Damn, that was intense,” he said. “What happened?” Eon asked. “Did you find out the meaning of life?” “No,” Star said as he stood up. “A bunch of Gek were talking to me. It was odd. I could understand what they were saying.” “Were they speaking their native tongue or Equestrian?” “I think they were speaking Equestrian,” Star said. “I wonder if there are more of these things.” “You can look later,” Eon said. “Warning: storm approaching.” “Wait, what kind of storm?” Suddenly, the wind kicked up. Dust blew against Star violently, and is thermal cooling temperature rapidly went down.“O-kay, that isn't good,” he said as he struggled to walk. “Eon, is there any way you could put the oxide elements into my suit on your own?” “No can do, Star,” Eon said. “I can affect your suits systems, but I can't use a physical object.” Star attempted to run towards.the building been in before, but wind proved to be too powerful, and he fell down in exhaustion. “Star, your thermal levels are at twenty five percent.” “When did they hit fifty?!” Star asked as he struggled to stand up. “You were in la-la land,” Eon said. “Or wherever you were when you touched that object.” Star opened his inventory and put some zinc into his thermal power source. “Well, that was all I had. What are they at now?” “Forty percent.” “Great,” Star said as he continued his struggle against the wind that this twisted version of mother nature called weather. “I’ve always wanted to die in a dust storm.” “Star, I have an idea,” Eon said. “It's incredibly risky, but it might work.” “I'm open to all options that don't involve me getting cooked alive!” “Use your magic and make yourself a hole.” “Uhhh… what?” “Maybe if you can make a make deep enough, you can escape the warm winds.” Star didn't argue and fired off a powerful magical beam towards the ground. “If this doesn't work, I’m going to haunt you.” “Hey, I didn't say this was guaranteed to work!” Star stopped casting the magical beam and looked down the hole. “Well, here goes nothing,” he said as he hopped down it. He landed softly at the bottom and fell to his haunches; exhausted and tired. “Hey, it worked!” Eon announced as Stars thermal levels rose back up. “You owe me.” Star passed out. “You can't escape paying your debt!” Star snored peacefully. “Jackass.” --- A short while later, Star woke up. “How… how long was I out?” “Long enough that your life support levels are at ten percent,” Eon said. “May wanna fix that.” Star's eyes shot open. He frantically look through his inventory and grabbed a bunch of plutonium. “Okay, this will do,” he said as he refilled his life support source. “Geez this is annoying.” “You've managed to do it all of this time,” Eon said. “You can continue to do it.” “Yeah, yeah,” Star said. “Okay, so what was I going to do before I passed out?” “You wondered if there were more of those strange objects around here. Then a really bad dust storm happened and you nearly died.” “Ah, yes,” Star said as he activated his jetpack and ascended out of the hole. “Maybe I should look for a way to counteract that.” “Or, you can just make more holes until it looks like a crazed archaeologist came through here with a giant drill,” Eon said. “I think my idea is cooler.” “Your idea also means I have a higher chance of dying,” Star said. “Of course, I hear they plan on making more seasons of the grounds favorite show: Dirt. I hear season eight hundred and nine is the best of them all.” “Fine, fine,” Eon said. “Maybe there are more abandoned buildings around here that have more thermal add-ons for your exosuit.” Star scanned the area. And found nothing. “Welp, looks like I'll be doing this the old fashioned way,” Star said as he ran back towards his ship. “I'm gonna bet you ten units that you crash into a mountain.” Star popped open the hatch to his ship and leaped into it. “You must have faith in me, young AI!” He exclaimed as he turned his ship on and took off. “I'm a lieutenant after all!” “Okay, first of all, stop with the enthusiasm,” Eon said. “It's really disturbing. Second of all, you're the same lieutenant who once tried threw a multi-tool at a giant ant-like creature that walked in two legs, then ran the other the way when it chased after him, all the while asking why it was doing so.“ “Hey, it was a natural reaction to something four times your size!” Star snapped. “Besides, it was hideous.” “Okay, I'll agree with that. It was probably the ugliest thing we've seen to date.” Star smiled and scanned the land below him. “Hey, I've got a hit!” “Is it a building?” “No, it's some sort of ruin,” Star said. “Should we go check it out?” “I'm afraid that you'll either get bored and fall asleep, or another storm will start up,” Eon said. “Perhaps you should wait.” “What if I land right next to the ruins and wait near the ship?” “You're going to go to the ruins no matter what I say, right?” Star landed his ship in the middle of the ruins. “You say something?” He asked as he popped the ship's hatch. “I said you've got a death wish.” “Oh, I realized that a long time ago,” Star replied as he looked up at the giant ruined structure that loomed before him. It looked like a globe, and was a dark blueish color. Directly below the monolithic story was a hole with something inside of it. Nearby were three of those strange objects Star had seen earlier. “This has to be hundreds of years old,” Eon said. “Perhaps even thousands.” “So, about the age of the average librarian?” “Not that old.” “Oh.” Star approached one of the strange objects and looked at it curiously. “Eon, any idea if there's an impending storm?” “There's a chance there will be one within the next twenty minutes,” Eon said. “Here goes nothing,” Star said. He approached the object and touched it. Again, dozens of voices filled his head until only one remained. Idiot. Star staggered back and glared at the object. “Dick.” “What word stuck with you?” “Idiot,” Star grumbled. “Oh, that's rich!” Star rolled his eyes and walked over to another one of the objects. He touched it. Hello. “Did this one call you a fool?” “No,” Star said. “It just said 'hello'.” “Lame.” Star walked over to the last object and touched it. Sentinel. “That's all of them.” Star turned his attention to the small hole on the ground. “Do I dare touch it?” “I dunno, Eon said. “Do you?” “I was asking you.” “Sure,” Eon replied. Go ahead.” Star approached the circle and nervously touched it. A diamond-shaped object sprung out of it. Lines of code filled Stars mind as he stared blankly at the object. You desire the knowledge within these knowledge stone's and this monolith? Find the Atlas then. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the object shot back into the ground. Star staggered backwards and fell down next to a stone. “Uh, Star? Are you okay?” Eon asked. “My brain is full of fuck.” “That’s nice and all,” Eon said, “but you may wanna get into your ship because, like any great weatherman, I was wrong about my prediction.” Star's eyes shot open. “Wait, you admired to being wrong?!” “Star! It's going to start storming any second now!” As if on queue, the wind picked up violently. Dust blew against Star as a sudden realization hit him. He was about to be cooked alive by a barren planet that he compared to a bunch of horny kids. With every ounce of strength he stood up and tried to reach his ship. Come on, Star, he thought as he struggled against the violent wind. No planet is going to keep you down! After several grueling minutes, Star reached his ship. he held onto its side and, using his magic, popped the ship's hatch open. He slowly climbed in and shut the hatch. “Hah! Suck it, planet!” “Star, you realize you were only three feet from your ship that whole time, right?” “Lemme have my moment.” “You could've just held onto the side of the ship and used it as support.” “Stop ruining my heroic feeling!” “No.” “Feh, fine,” Star said as he adjusted himself. “So, that… monolith thing told me to go 'find the Atlas’.” “Wait, the place you upload that data to?” “I guess,” Star said. “Where exactly is the Atlas?” “I haven't got the slightest idea.” “You think it has anything worth taking?” “I've read that there are things called Atlas stones that are worth a lot of units.” “Oooh.” “They're also extremely rare.” “Never mind!” “So, no Atlas hunting?” Star tapped his chin. “Maybe.”