Chapter VIII
Chapter VIII
Sergeant Smooth Glider gently scratched his chin with his hoof, thoroughly bored with his current assignment. He and Corporal Thunder Rider had been sent here to relieve a pair of Night Sentinels some two hours earlier, and so far they have seen nothing of the creature that lived in the cave below.
At first, he had been excited about his orders. Keep and eye on an alien creature? Every fiber of his inner colt had squeed at the mere mention of the task, though the information that came with those orders had put a dampener on his mood.
“Sarge, do you think what Lieutenant Burst said was true? That it's just somepony who's been...changed...by aliens?” Corporal Rider asked nervously.
“We've seen worse from Discord, so yes, I do think that Lieutenant Burst has told us the truth,” Sergeant Glider said as he settled further into the cloud the two of them were hiding in.
“Yeah, but do you really think that something like that isn't a monster?” Corporal Rider asked, pointing down towards the cave as he spoke.
Sergeant Glider looked over the edge of the cloud, his heart beating loudly in his ears. He's even more grotesque than I had imagined... he thought as he watched the pallid beast leave the cave.
“Keep your voice down and follow him, but do not interfere,” Sergeant Glider said as he started to flap his wings, pushing the cloud through the sky as they followed the strange alien through the forest.
* * *
I continued to look at them, content to let them make the first move. After all, I'm the monster here, anything I do would probably send them running for the hills, I thought sardonically to myself.
Problem with this approach, though, was that they seemed to have the same idea. Honestly, I was just surprised that they had lasted this long, and by their own free will no less.
So, we just gonna sit here until the world ends? or... I thought, but was interrupted when Carrot approached, Scroll close behind. She reached behind her, somehow managing to twist her neck to the point where she could reach into her bags with her mouth. I had seen the ponies in town do this from time to time, so it wasn't too surprising. I was still impressed by her flexibility though.
I reflexively flinched back when she started to pull out whatever it was she was reaching for, only to be confused when all she removed from the bag was a medium-sized box. My confusion only mounted once I recognized the delectable scent of baked goods emanating from the box, my saliva glands instantly kicking into overdrive as the heavenly smell tickled my scent receptors.
She crossed the last few feet and gently set the box down in front of me, then nervously backed up. I couldn't believe my eyes, or my nose, when I opened the box to see thirteen perfect, beautiful cupcakes sitting in the bottom of the box.
I took one out and carefully examined it as I peeled the paper wrapper off of the treat. It was small, round, and perfectly shaped. It appeared to be made of a substance similar to chocolate, judging by the color and smell of it, and was topped with pink frosting. Oddly enough, I could also see that somebody had piped a tiny picture of a pink pony with poofy pink hair, waving its hoof on the top of the confection. The picture looked similar to The Pink One I had seen around town who had preoccupied herself with throwing confetti at the other ponies.
The similarities were uncanny, especially when I looked back into the box and noticed that all the cupcakes bore some kind of picture.
Intrigued, I looked closer to discover that the piping told some kind of story. The cupcake I had taken seemed to be at the beginning, so I put it back and picked up the box, trying to figure out the riddle in front of me.
The first one was the picture of the mare, waving happily. The next few showed me, surprisingly enough, as I made my way up to the gingerbread house from town. The last few were covered in sprinkles and piped balloons, while the last had a picture of the two of us hugging.
I looked up at the two ponies in front of me, to see if I could get any answers out of them. Nope, they look just as confused as I am, I thought as I watched them study the cupcakes in front of me.
I decided that whatever the message was, it wasn't as important as the sweet, delicious taste of the cupcakes it was written on. I carefully set down the box, then, with almost indecent haste, picked up the first one in the row and stuffed it into my mouth. I couldn't really chew properly, seeing as how my jaw and teeth had been redesigned with a more carnivorous mindset. However, I had found out through personal experimentation that my digestive system was still more or less omnivorous. It was just harder for me to eat vegetables now that I couldn't chew them.
Cupcakes were easier, though. I could just pulp them with my powerful tongue, then maneuver the mush to the back of my throat where I could easily swallow them. It was far more time consuming than the normal way of eating, but as the chocolate, chocolate-cream filled cupcake topped with raspberry icing exploded in my mouth, I couldn't bring myself to care.
How on earth do they have chocolate here? I thought in amazement as I picked up another cupcake. This isn't earth, but the parallels here are uncanny.
I looked up at the wonderfully brave duo, tears in my eyes at what they had done for me. I then took out two cupcakes from the box and set them in front of the two heaven-sent ponies.
They looked surprised at what I had done, but that didn't register in my brain as I moved the box of cupcakes out of my way and started to draw in the dirt in front of me.
* * *
“Uh, honey, why is Pinkie Pie on the cupcakes?” Written whispered in confusion as he examined the confections.
“I don't know. I had asked her this morning for a baker's dozen, and she had just given me the box right then and there, almost as if she were expecting me,” Carrot Top said in amazement. “I just passed it off as Pinkie being Pinkie at the time, but this goes beyond that.”
“Well, I don't-” Written started to say, but was interrupted when the creature popped one of the cupcakes into its mouth without hesitation, closing its eyes in satisfaction.
Written was slightly amazed to find that when it closed its eyes, it did, indeed, have eyelids. The eyelids were hidden, though, in a similar fashion to the secondary eyelids that beavers and certain other aquatic mammals had when swimming, though these did not appear to be transparent in any way.
The creature's face was truly an oddity. It seemed incapable of expression, somehow lacking the muscular structure required to show emotion. However, as he watched the creature pick up another cupcake, it was clear that it could feel, if the tears in its eyes were any indication of that sort of thing.
“Why is it crying?” Carrot asked, concern creeping into her voice.
Written just shook his head in confusion. “I wish I knew, honey. I just wish it would talk to us. On a guess, though, I would say that it almost seems... lonely.”
As they watched it pop another cupcake into its mouth, they were again surprised by the creature when it reached into the box and pulled out two of the delicious confections. It then gently set the two cupcakes down in front of the two ponies, then moved the cupcake box off to the side.
What it did next confused the two even more at first. It quickly smoothed out a patch of dirt in front of it, then began to draw with some apparent skill.
The first thing it drew was itself holding a cupcake, though the differences between the picture and the actual creature were too many to count. For starters, the picture didn't have fangs, but instead a smile, as well as a single hand raised with one of its thumbs pointing up. What this gesture meant was lost on Written Script, though he assumed that it meant something positive.
He also noticed that the creature had drawn pupils and irises on the eyes, though why it had done this was a mystery to him.
“I think he's trying to say he's thankful,” Carrot said slowly.
“He?”
“Well, he's clearly not a she, and I'm starting to feel uncomfortable calling him an it,” Carrot Top answered, blushing a little when she spoke.
Written Script didn't say anything, as his attention was again disrupted when the creature smoothed out the dirt again, removing his previous work to begin something else. This time he started to draw two heads, one of a pony, and another of himself. Above the pony head he drew an oval, with a small semi-crescent leading down to the pony's mouth. Inside the bubble he started to draw a series of wavy lines.
It was obvious that the creature was trying to show a pony talking, though why it was doing this was beyond Written's comprehension.
At least, that was the case until he noticed a similar word bubble over the creature's non-pony drawing. This word bubble was different, though. Instead of being filled with wavy lines, it was filled with an odd assortment of lines and dots, arranged in a clear structure that Written Script's trained eye instantly recognized as a language, though the actual meaning of the words and symbols were something that Written couldn't understand.
“What is this supposed to mean?” Carrot asked as she sat down in front of the strange drawing, chewing on the cupcake in front of her.
“I think he's trying to say that he can't understand our language, though he still understands a language,” Written said as he examined the writing closer.
The characters were strange and block-like, hinting at a far more intelligent creature behind the savage exterior that stood before them. Written's line of work as a scribe had exposed him to almost every language under Celestia's sun, so he was certain that this language wasn't something that anypony would be able to decipher without magic.
Written's eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the writing before him. He had a number of translation spells at his disposal, though even his best only had a thirty-five percent transcription accuracy if he himself was unfamiliar with the language.
It's worth a shot, though, if it means we are able to communicate on some kind of level, he thought as he charged his horn.
The creature flinched back at first, clearly scared of the magical display in front of him, though he calmed down when he noticed that the only thing that was happening was that his own writing was glowing. He cocked his head to the side as this happened, clearly intrigued as what Written was doing.
Okay, time to see if all that work back in college payed off. Translation Matrix, show me the money! Written thought as he weaved the arcane energies in front of him, trying to use the aethiric impressions left behind by the creature's thoughts while writing to decipher a meaning behind the words themselves.
The words glowed even brighter, then began to rearrange themselves, twisting the lines and breaking themselves into new and interesting shapes, until finally they formed into words in the Equestrian tongue.
The message was small and simple, just a few words, so the errors caused by the translation were very small (if Written was any sort of judge about that kind of thing). The meaning itself, however, was crystal clear, and Written Script could only hoof pump when he realized that he had been successful.
“I do no understanding what you are speaking to me?” Carrot Top read in disbelief. “Why would he write that?”
“Probably the first thing that came to his head while he was drawing,” Written Script said as he silently congratulated himself. “Also, I'm not certain this is accurate, seeing as how the spell only has a thirty-five percent transcription accuracy when translating a language that I don't know.”
“Can you translate a message to him?” Carrot Top asked hopefully.
Written Script just shook his head at that. “No, for that I would need to understand his language completely. The spell simply can't translate into a language that I do not understand, and barely works translating his language into a tongue that I do understand without a proper understanding of his language. There are spells that would allow me to speak to him directly, though those are beyond my understanding. Twilight might know a few, though.”
The creature seemed transfixed by the writing in front of him, almost as if unable to believe what had just happened. He seemed to snap out of whatever world he was lost in, and began to scribble out more and more writing in the dirt at his feet.
“Hey, hey!” Written yelled, waving his hooves to get the creature's attention. The creature looked up at Written, cocking his head to the side as he did so. Once Written was sure that he had the creature's attention, he held his hooves far apart while shaking his head. “It's not going to work if you write too much, the spell breaks down if you make it too complex.” He then significantly reduced the distance between his hooves while nodding. “Try to make it smaller.”
The creature just looked at him for a bit, before smoothing out the words he had just written. He then replaced the novel he had been writing with fifteen short characters.
Written Script nodded once at this, then began to charge his horn once more, attempting to once again translate the words in front of him.
This was a bit more... complicated, though. One of the words seemed to have a meaning that the Equestrian language had no word for, not to mention it was extremely complex, despite the simplicity of the four characters. This lead Written to believe that the word was important to the creature somehow, and that the word, despite being very short in the creature's native tongue, would somehow translate into a far more complex and lengthy phrase in Equestrian.
Finally, Written released the spell and looked down at the writing in front of him. The words didn't make much sense, but that was to be expected when you translated someone's name.
“My name Defender of People.” Carrot read out loud, her eyebrows bunched in confusion. “Why did he write that?”
“He didn't. He wrote his name, but his name has a far more complex meaning despite the shortness of the word he gave us,” Written said as he rubbed his chin. “His name is something small, probably only one or two syllables, though the meaning behind those syllables translates to 'Defender of People' in our language.”
“Well, how about we call him Defender than? That sounds pretty good to me. Much better than 'monster' or 'the creature' anyway,” Carrot Top said with a smile.
Written's only answer was to smile back.
* * *
Sergeant Glider watched excitedly as the creature continued his impromptu communication session with the two ponies in the clearing. Corporal Rider also watched, but with a far more guarded expression than Glider's look of pure wonder.
“I think that would answer your question, corporal,” Glider said with a smile.
“I really think we need to go down there and get those ponies out of there. Weren't we ordered to prevent it from interacting with anypony?” the corporal asked uncertainly.
Sergeant Glider just shook his head at that. “You're remembering our orders wrong. We were ordered to make sure no harm came to him from ponies, not to prevent him from interacting with them. I'm pretty sure Princess Luna is going to be peeved that she wasn't here to see this, but she won't mind if we bring these two with us when we give our report."
Corporal Rider still looked a bit dubious at this, but nodded anyway.
* * *
Celestia studied the picture of the ape-like creatures from the crash intently. “...And you're sure that the collar was missing?” she asked as she pointed towards the creature's neck.
“I am certain, sister,” Luna said gravely.
“What is his mentality?”
“He is alone and afraid. He longs for companionship, but knows that he will never be accepted looking the way he does. He misses his home greatly, and holds a large amount of needless guilt over what his captors forced him to do while he was their slave,” Princess Luna said as she brought another pastry to her muzzle.
“...Do you think he would ever harm a pony?” Celestia asked quietly, instantly hating herself for even asking such a question.
“Willingly? No. He carries so much guilt in him that I doubt that he wouldn't dare to lift a claw against another sapient, even in self defense. He would rather run if attacked. If he were cornered, I believe that he would lay down his life rather than take another's,” Luna said, taking another bite of the pastry.
Celestia nodded at this, satisfied that that question was out of the way. “What horrors could he have gone through to turn him into this? A shell of what he once was, running through the dark, hating himself for crimes he did not commit? What kind of person would do this sort of thing to another?” Celestia asked as she levitated another picture in front of her.
Luna just shook her head at this. “I only caught a glimpse from his nightmares, though it is clear that the other victims that shared in his fate deserve a proper burial, while their tormentors deserve a fate etched in stone.”
“You are right, Lulu, though punishment for their crimes is out of our hooves now, seeing as how they have already passed beyond the veil,” Celestia said as she packed up the pictures in front of her.
* * *
Pinkie Pie looked over the refreshments that she had prepared, going over each and every detail with extreme precision. Cookies, cupcakes, pies and punch all covered the table, and if her calculations were correct, her invitations would have reached their intended targets by now.
Soon, Sugar Cube Corner would be filled with the sounds of laughter and merrymaking, the perfect welcome to somepony new in town.
Slowly, Pinkie crept over to the window and looked out. There, just off in the distance, she could barely make out the edge of White Tail Woods. If she used her imagination, she could also make out a strange bipedal new friend coming out, ready to enjoy a wonderful party.
There really was nothing quite like meeting a new friend. That rush of excitement, the feeling of seeing that new smile, the feeling of contentment, knowing that she was the one to put that smile on their face.
She just hoped that he wouldn't chicken out this time.
Yes... soon... she thought as she stared out towards White Tail Woods, rubbing her hooves together in anticipation.
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Continue the Awesome!!!!
Awesome!
Every chapter I read makes me love this story more and more
Alex is the loveliest ugly abomination in the world, and the ponies manage to be even more adorable than the show!
Now, I'm allowed to believe that even Luna, Celestia and Twilight wouldn't manage perfect translations, yes? Because we humans, with heaps of elbow grease and knowing both languages we are translating to and from, have small inconsistencies.
As long as you just keep writing I think we can forgive the delay of Nautilus. Excellent bit with the name vs meaning.
Hehehehe, perfect.
the story continues to be awesome. i am glad to see that he is interacting with at least some ponies without terror being included.
i like how you had pinkie in there with her "being pinkie"
we shall have to wait and see what party she has planned for him.
I really hope that Pinkie didn't try to invite the entire town to this party for Alex. I have a feeling that that wouldn't end well.
Another good chapter
I wonder if pinkie sense got a comprehensive idea of his form.
When he opened the box of cupcakes I could almost hear the angel choir in the background.
The name thing was an ingenious touch mate!
Though it has me concerned how they would react to "One who rules"...
This story continues to be a delightful read through and through - it avoids all the typical cliche pitfalls of human/pony stories with grace, gives all the "misunderstanding" tropes (which are eyeroll-worthy in how common they are) the middle finger and the Idiot Ball is left weeping silently in the corner, abandoned and alone. Many stories could take lessons from this one how to touch the subject without pissing off the audience.
And Pinke is on the prowl? This is going to be interesting - Alex will never know what hit him
I wonder if Twilight will invite herself along as well - I'd love to see some more direct interactions between ponies and the tortured soul that is Alex, and if anyone is going to whip up some sort of a telepathic communication spell (mental magic is a thing after all, as well as stuff like memory transfer, so it's not much of a stretch she could make it work to some degree of success, even if it's only one-on-one), that would be her.
Whatever happens though, I'm looking towards it.
Damn, I thought his name was Xander.
Also, I find it funny that in most fanfics, when a pony hears a human name (usually rainbow dash) they immediately react like "what a stupid name, it doesn't even mean anything".
5078193 I've hinted at this before, but since you wanted answers, here's the answer.
He's been cyberneticly altered, not just genetically.
During the dream sequence I noted that Alex attempted to push the face away only to realize that his arms and legs were missing. That wasn't just the dream. His arms were removed, the bone structure and much of the muscle structure replaced, and then reattached and grafted to his skeleton. Why leave him with his skin? The reason is twofold. As advanced as the alien's tech is, they haven't been able to design sensors that mimic the nervous system properly, and therefore left it to allow better manual manipulation for their subject.
The second reason is that the skin now has a slightly necrotic look to it, which engenders even more horror in the minds of their enemies.
The replacement muscles and bone structure is more of a synthetic, bio-engineered machine that is able to use our protagonist's circulatory system and digestive system as fuel, instead of needing things like fossil fuel or electricity.
The bones in the fingers actually seperate to allow the claws to pass through, and the claws themselves fold up and rest inside of the bones in the forearms.
Sure I'm making all of this stuff up, but isn't that what sci-fi is all about? Coming up with fantastic or horrifying tech that doesn't actually exist?
If you're stil having problems with this, then go watch the meld tutorial for XCOM: enemy within again.
5078216 By the way, I really enjoyed your story "Nyx's Family", so you cannot believe how excited I am that you are following my little story.
This is currently my favorite story! I must admit, though it is
that we are talking about. I was genuinely surprised that she knew this whole time. Plus that she wants to introduce Alex to the town, is... not the right thing to do at the moment. See how Carrot top and Script where terrified of him. So, yeah... this is pretty much what would to the entire town~
When inspiration strikes, listen to it. I'm enjoying this story very much and seeing it so masterfully tended to is totally awesome :)
Keep up the great work!
5078216 I just realized where you were in the story, so sorry about the spoilers.
5078238
... Is it bad that I'm now looking forward to the encounter with Pinkie?
Pinkie Pie is just awesome. But I don't think that Alexander will come to town too soon. He will try to avoid the mass of ponies. I just hope Pinkie Pie will not be too disappointed...
5078300 His back story will eventually be revealed, but it will take some time.
No, it is not wrong to look forward to more pinkie.
HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS EARLIER?!?!?!?
I'm worried that Pinkie didn't think through her plan... Ponies tend to panic...
static.tumblr.com/7840ce25e33890c60405483ce87e723d/9lloxtu/MlOmmagwy/tumblr_static_pinkiepic1.png
soon
5078393 Um... I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Thanks for the input though, I'll see what I can do about that.
Of COURSE Pinkie knows what's up. She ALWAYS knows what's up.
5078399 I can't say I really agree with your critic's problems with the wording of your chapters. Honestly, it seems a tad bit silly to me to complain about specific wording of fanfiction of My Little Pony. This isn't a college essay or a professional resume for an upcoming job interview. You're writing a story about a person who's had everything taken from him receiving kindness from the ponies he feared would fear and shun him for his appearance, and you have done a fantastic job doing just that in my book.
So the I know the Aliens turned him and other humans into what he is now but how did those aliens get him in the first place did they just abduct him and the others or did they actually invade/enslave/destroy the Earth
Go on...
the affair with pinkie wont end well.
on the up side, once the word of translations working gets loose...
LET THE ROYAL CAPS LOCK BE HEARD!
mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw9761_small.jpg
I think that's supposed to be "spoke".
Still, another great chapter!
Pinkie needs to stop, fetch Opal, then do that last scene over again. It's just not the same without the white cat sitting on her lap.
i wonder how the mine six will react when they find out about how much pain he's been in because of the aliens, there going to HELL TO PAY!!!! Espuilly when the princess of love find out that they destroy his love life.
5078399 I don't believe that there's anything wrong with this chapter.
That said, this chapter had less of an emotional impact, than the last couple, but that could be because we're already past the first hurdle, in monster/equine relations, and now it's logically time for the characters to all take a moment to process the new information they've gained.
Oh, Pinkie, you so silly.
Can hardly wait to see what happens when they finally get some communication going between them.
Annnnd now I want more again. Damn it.
One little thing.
Comes across as a little mechanical and gamey, like all he has to do is keep casting until it works.
Instead, consider something like
It sounds a lot more like a translator/interpreter who deals more with accuracy than with chance.
Would it perhaps make sense for man to translate to pony or stallion? Man meaning either the human race, or the male gender, makes sense in my mind. Not griping at all, just two more possible translations. I personally don't think 'Defender of Man' would extend to rabbit-people or dog-people, given the fact that we still fight and kill other humans, I doubt we would act any better towards another sentient species...... Stupid humans.
5079129 There are only... Eight I believe? Eight species of animals that fight and kill amongst their own kind. (Not counting fighting over mates)
5 of them are species of ants, I don't remember two of them, and the last one is Humans. I agree: Stupid humans. After all, we literally named our species "Smart Smart Same". Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Really?
5079129
Yeah, or sapient beings....
I look forward to more of this. It is very good
I say this could be one of the best partial stories so far
5078998 Thanks man, already fixed it.
5078786 Thanks for the catch! already fixed!
5078489 5078859 Thanks you two, that really means a lot to me. I'm truly confused at why he thought that last chapter was so terrible.
… Pinkie, this is gonna go straight to hell because of you...
Alexandria means defender of man huh? All mine means is first and last by the way "little fire knight" I still can't think of a character wihout them being just a derpy stu.
And thanks to you now I'm drawn i wanting to hear more, and when ou finally set updating you other story's I'll be sad since iv any fun four what happens next.
5079506 Alexander, not Alexandria. Glad you like it though!
Sorry auto correct fail!
Dude! I KNEW it!
Pinkie is totally trying to invite him to a party, but she knows he doesn't understand equestrian, so she made graphic pictures! YAY!
Dude! you've got to stop updating so regularly or everbody is going to start expecting it.
Keep your muse on a leash, dammit!
Seriously though, nice chapter. I'm glad you upload with such frequency.
5078490
The point of a story is that you find out stuff when you read it. If you already know the whole thing, there's no point in reading it.
5078852
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