Chapter II: Questions
Sweet Celestia, I hope my ears aren't bleeding, I thought to myself as I felt my ears ringing after Pinkie's scream. It was so loud that I was even willing to bet that everypony in Ponyville felt it. To make things worse, Pinkie was running her mouth off still. That until she suddenly vanished, not even leaving a cloud of dust in her wake. All the while I just sat there blinking until the ringing in my ears slowly faded away.
"Did... anypony hear what Pinkie said after she screamed?" I asked as I looked at Twilight and Fluttershy, only to see them rubbing a hoof against their ears as well.
"Sorry... I didn't hear a thing..." Fluttershy answered.
"No... though I never thought Pinkie could be that loud," Twilight replied.
"...Should I scared then of what Pinkie might do?" I asked as various scenarios went through my mind.
"What could Pinkie do that you would be scared of?"
"Well, she... has a kind of devotion to parties that few ponies have... and since she screamed that loud..." I answered as I waved a hoof around inviting speculation.
"I see your point, but I'm sure Pinkie wouldn't do anything to hurt yo—"
"She nearly choked me to death a while ago."
"...to hurt you on purpose."
Sighing, I replied, "I know... just, we both know how carried away she can be... and remember when she planned on giving me a birthday party that is like fourteen of them combined? That alone sounds like it could be massive... but if she plans on a party to make up for my entire former life..."
Twilight was about to respond when she stopped herself, her face taking on a contemplative look. "You have a point there, but something like this occurred during Rainbow's birth-iversary party. I'm confidant that Pinkie won't do anything over the top to you."
"I'll take your word for it then... though I would feel better if somepony kept an eye on her. I have a distinct feeling that I may be shot out of her party cannon tomorrow."
"Umm... well Fluttershy, can you go check on Pinkie to make sure she doesn't go overboard?" Twilight asked.
"Try to get Rainbow to help you, you might need her speed," I dryly commented.
Fluttershy looked nervous, probably due to having to deal with a crazier than normal Pinkie, but she replied, "I... I'll try."
As Fluttershy took off, I realized that this meant that I was alone with Twilight. Turning my head towards her, I saw that Twilight already knew that I would figure this out as she gave me a sheepish smile. I sighed, "Fine, teleport us to the library."
"Eeee!" Twilight squealed to my discomfort as we were engulf in a flash of light, appearing in the library where I spotted Spike sweeping the floor.
At our appearance he instantly dropped the broom while giving us a look of relief as he said, "Twilight! You're al...right?" His look of relief turned to confusion as we both watched Twilight quickly move around the library, grabbing various quills, scrolls and notepads for the upcoming questioning. "Aether, is this related to your culture?"
"That and more. You might want to take a seat for this, for what you will hear will be surprising, disturbing, and outright strange," I answered as I walked over to a table to wait for Twilight to be done.
"Umm... okay?" Spike said as he took a seat on the side.
"Though I will tell you something important first, but I want you to remain calm. I don't want you running off in a fright, fainting, or setting me on fire," I announced as I gave him a serious look.
"I don't think anything you can say can get me to freak out, and why would I set you on fire? We're friends Aether, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."
I kept up my expression, remaining silent for a moment before I replied, "Spike, I'm an alien."
At first, Spike just stared at me. Then he started to laugh as he said, "That's a good one Aether." He continued to laugh until he finally noticed that I wasn't laughing with him. He looked at my face to see that I still held my serious look, which caused his eyes to widen as his breathing began to quicken. This led to me changing my look to a deadpan one, though after a moment his breathing slowed down as he began to calm down.
"Good... for a moment there I thought I was going to need to run into the kitchen sink," I dryly commented.
"Eh heh... sorry about that, but why did you think I would set you on fire?"
"Because I told the Crusaders about that truth earlier, and they panicked first before charging at me."
"Oh... wait. Does that mean my idea about aliens invading was true?"
"Eh, half true. More like aliens and alien stuff was accidentally showing up, though there might have been an alien invasion. Before you freak out though, that was prevented."
"That's... a relief? Wait, why didn't you tell anypony that you were an alien."
"No pony asked," I answered with a shrug, which Spike gave me a deadpan look in response.
"Okay... hey, if there are alien ponies, are there alien dragons too?"
"Um... I wasn't a pony before I... well appeared here Spike."
"Oh? Then what we—" Spike started to say before Twilight dropped a stack of notepads on the table, taking a seat across from me.
"Yes! You didn't tell anypony what you were before!" Twilight shrieked, her eyes showing her unrestrained excitement.
"So... I take it you want me to tell you what I looked like before..." I cautiously said, to which Twilight gave an excited nod in response. "So you want me to draw upon my memories of the species I belong to, one that is dying out. One that lost its world to interdimensional organizations, forced into the bottom of society. A species that lost all hope to survive."
As I said those words, Twilight's face became more and more downcast at each fact I brought up. After I finished, Twilight said, "Okay... you don't have to think about that... but can you still tell me other things about your past life?"
"Eh, sure. Just don't ask me about my past life for now. All I want to say about that is that for the last fourteen years, I ate paste and had a terrible job."
"Oka— wait. Can you tell me what that... 'paste' is made of?"
"No idea."
After a long pause, Twilight asked, "You... ate something that you had no idea what could be in it?"
"Yeah... but remember I was poor. So it was either paste or garbage."
Twilight suddenly turned a bit green, putting a hoof over her mouth to hold back her breakfast. "Um... could it be possible that... there was meat in the paste?"
Shrugging, I answered, "Maybe, maybe not. Depends if it was cheap enough for whoever made it to include meat."
Spike gagged a bit at what we were talking about, even sticking a finger into his mouth as some gesture that caused Twilight to say, "Spike, don't be rude." That caused me to chuckle, the other two looking at me in confusion.
"That wasn't rude to me Twilight. The paste tasted terrible, barely above the taste of rotten food. Anyway, Spike, feel free to do the sort of things you were doing. Odds are that you'll probably even show the feelings I had on that matter."
"Okay..." Twilight said, her face still a bit green. "But why would anypony let so many... species be so poor?"
"Cause the ponies on top don't give a... well they just don't care. I think they only see things for the money and see the poor as a cheap answer to some problems they have to deal with."
"But you mention probes... wouldn't it be cheaper to use probes than paying ponies per trip?"
"Probes are normally used for quick scans of a world, and aren't cheap to produce. Honestly... it's probably due to the public not being comfortable with just... hey Spike, mind getting me a glass of apple juice? My throat's a bit dry right now."
"Sure Aether," Spike replied as he got up and headed to the kitchen.
Once he's out of earshot, I quickly said in a low voice, "My thoughts are that the public don't like seeing species being randomly wiped out. It's something the Venanites do regularly and nopony wants to be associated with them. So instead they pull some news stuff as they take over worlds, taking over all the world's' resources while forcing natives onto terrible land they can't survive on. This forced them to change their ways, or fight back and get killed. Anyways, I think the organizations use the large labor pool of poor for dimensional exploration to get rid of us."
My suspicions caused Twilight to look at me with a hint of horror on her face as Spike made his return. Giving him my thanks for the drink, he took his seat as he gave Twilight a confused look. "Twilight, what's wrong?"
Shaking her head, Twilight put on a fake smile as she said, "Nothing Spike, nothing at all." Lighting her horn with her magic, she began to take notes, albeit with a grimace on her face. "You mention the 'Venanites' before, and by the sounds of it they are another species. Can you tell me about them?"
I gave Twilight a wary look before taking a deep breath. "Fine, you might as well know now since they might be relevant in the future. Though for our sake I hope that never comes to pass. Venanites... are true monsters. They have no remorse, no care, only hate. Whenever they appear on a world... it either takes the entire dimensional community to stop them, or the world is lost forever. What's worse... is that they spread through their bite. Once a pony is bitten by a Venanite, they turn into one. The process is very painful, to where it drives a pony insane to the point they are nothing more than a mindless animal once they fully become a Venanite."
"You mean they are like zombie ponies!" Spike shrieked in fear.
"Spike, there's not such things as zombie ponies," Twilight scolded.
"Um... what's a 'zombie' pony?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.
"They're ponies that walk around real slow, groaning and saying 'brains' as they hunt down ponies to eat their brains. The worst part is that when you get bitten by a zombie pony, you become one too!" Spike explained.
As Twilight facehoofed at Spike's explanation, I could only raised an eyebrow at the absurdity of it. "Okay... as weird as that sounds, you do have a point about the bite though."
"Wait, if the Venanites are feral, how could they know how to travel between dimensions?" Twilight asked.
"No idea, they just do it somehow. There are many ideas on that, like maybe there's smarter Venanites behind it, or maybe another species are using them, to even they just have some natural ability to do it. Nopony really knows much because we only got our hands on those that got turned into Venanites. Sorry Twilight, but beyond that they are an interdimensional menace, nopony knows much else about them."
"Okay..." Twilight said as she bit her lip in frustration from the lack of information. "Can you tell me about the other species that exist out there then?" Groaning to myself, I prepared myself to answer Twilight's questions. Though I had a feeling that I won't be able to satisfy her curiosity anytime soon.
This is going to be a long day...
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I can't wait to see what Pinkie Pie is going to do?
I've literraly been counting the days till this updated. I dont think ive been this excited about a fic since Seven Fates‘s An Alchemist‘s Heart
One day, the mystery appearance of our tailed, mammalian alien will be revealed.
Somehow, given Pinkies response, I dont think Cheese Sandwhiches coaxial turreted multi barrel tank is going to quite do it this time.
I suspect she is going to go and get Crusader.
Twilight:You will tell me Everything.
Aether:Ok. I was born to poor parents who had nothing but garbage or paste. Lived in the gutter, hovels or on teh run from monsters trying to eat me. Then I came here. I have no skill,s, abilities, society or schooling. Oh I wasnt a pony.
Twilight:
Aether:
...wait. So does that mean that if a Venanite got a pony...there would be magic Venanites then? That would not fare well...
Aether, you are going to have a very very long day between Twilight and the chaos that we all know that Pinkie is planning.
6163600 HA! I get that reference. Now, where is Athena?
I hope Venamites are allergic to magic.
Thank you for your continued updates most authors take forever to update stories
I still don't like twilight's enthusiasm for learning.
This was updated on my birthday! :D hahaha, awesome.
Awesome job man! This is great!
nice to learn some more about this awesomeness!
Pinkie is a bitch
I wonder how well humans are faring or if they will be mentioned at all
6165616
pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000798917145/5222f89657bcb9ee27a6786b9a2051f5.jpeg
"But you mention probes... wouldn't it be cheaper to use probes then paying ponies per trip?"
I think you missed a than.
6164663 rlv.zcache.com/svc/view?rlvnet=1&realview=113935491271650121&design=c0325504-bbcb-4308-9c99-843b43bc4f14&color=black&size=a_l&style=basic_dark_tshirt&max_dim=152
Funny how those Venanites seem familiar from another story on Fim. Oh well, it's not the exact same idea.
6162209 You do raise a good point, but you don't have to be a jerkass about it. Which is fine, I mean, if you want to be a total jerkass.
6165817
*Crying noises* "*SNNOORT* I'M SHA-SHOORY-Y!!"
6165658 if it is as realistic as the lukianenko Novels... then not so well...
This is one of the few stories I have ever seen to make me interested just by the description and what's even better is that I was instantly interesting in reading the prequel. The prequel itself was amazing too it's reached into at least one of my top 10 stories, but to be fair to my other favourites I like them all so much it's hard to tell which I like more. I must also say this storyline is the second in over ten years that got me hooked just by reading the first chapter. What intrigues me though is the fact you came up with such an intricate universe (or universes) for Aether's past yet it didn't seem to be connected to or similar to any other tropes that I would usually find in stories like these therefore I must ask, What was the inspiration?
I'm sorry if the comment was poorly made or otherwise terrible, not only do I rarely speak to creators about their work but I've never been too good at comprehension despite having English as my primary and only language I speak well.
Keep up the incredible work! I hope to read more chapters soon.
6165818 Hiiiiiiiiii Spike!
6166976 ...How dare you follow me here.
HI!
6156700 Also this is the 100th story I've faved, apparently.
Which I only realized just now.
So I just realized, by fixing the barrier and prohibiting alternate dimension travel, Sunset just got locked out forever without so much as a memo.
6171747
Yeah it's fine. I just get kind of leery at main characters that are wiser and more worldly than the other characters, and all the ponies can just huddle around and obey this character's wisdom, or else everything will go wrong and the character will be all like "You never listen to me, so this is your fault. Guess I have to save you dumb ponies from your own screwups again." And then the character solos the evil boss, and then they explain how ignorant and foolish everypony was who tried to take an active role.
Sort of like every Doctor Who episode ever.
I NEED MOAR!!!!!!
Hope you packed your comprehensive encyclopedia of the zoology of the entire multiverse.
"Oka— wait. Can you tell me what that... 'paste' is made of?"
"No idea."
.......
I hope that was an honest answer....
6267669 soylent green
First, I'm already loving this. For some reason, I'm picturing Aether and Spike getting together.
However, one thing that irritates me is when stories show ponies freaking out over meat. Ponies interact with meat eaters all the time; griffins, diamond dogs, dragons, and (if they follow myth) minotaurs. Fluttershy was even shown feeding fish to her animals. Not to mention, Pinkie mentioned how she prefers her hot dogs, hinting that ponies may be omnivorous, as well.
Venanites... are true monsters. They have no remorse, no care, only hate.
Totally Dalek origin.
Alondro checks the prices on simple drones... "Uh-huh... you know, I think a better reason might just be that the leaders are sadists who like watching the lesser races die horribly. In which case, I need to pay them a visit... so that they know that to me, they are all lesser races. We'll see how they like it."
Hah! Nailed it!
Time for that visit!
6401524 Nah. It's space ISIS.
Wait... that might explain why so many people keep joining them!
Why isn't Aether saying "being," or at least "alien," when referring to non-pony beings? It was already explained that Aether wasn't a pony to start, but they keep saying "pony" in reference to non-ponies.
Oh well, minor nitpick.
6476350 That would most likely be due to using the Equestian language as he was taught--Aether wouldn't know how to apply non-pony terminology to replace what the ponies generally use for "people".
Sort of how English doesn't have a non-human term for our word: "people", either. "Aliens" shouldn't technically work as a substitute since the actual definition of aliens applies equally to humans from foreign countries as well as non-human extraterrestrials--but it's the closest thing we have.
6417892
Certainly there's a considerable element of both.
Of course, using slave labor is nothing different from what the Nazis, Soviets, hell even the US and most of humanity throughout history used to try exterminating whole populations of "undesirables"
But no matter how technologically advanced a culture becomes, there's very little in the way of machines that can ever match the energy costs and adaptability of a biologic in such situations.
For one, no matter how well you program the device for every conceivable contingency, it would NEVER be enough to contend with all the hazards it might encounter, whereas a biologic is highly adaptable. We program ourselves to suit the situation. Life forms might still fail, but if they succeed, they'll bring back valuable data. You'd never want a machine that could program itself in the same way, for obvious reasons (think Asimov's 3 Laws of robotics).
For another, any artificial life form will require power in the form of raw electricity--and quite frankly, all means to generate raw electricity are very inefficient. But there are very little options to matching the efficiency biologics have to etching out the necessary available energy from an environment. Besides, there's always the possibility that the biologic sent into the environment can live off of what is found there. A mechanical device would have a hard time locating a power plant to plug into on a Mesozoic-type Earth.
The universe that Aether comes from is perhaps the worst Dystopic culture possible. For any culture capable of interdimensional travel, it would be far cheaper and way more ethical to start developing dysonspheres about red dwarf stars within their own universe. Red dwarfs would have a life cycle of hundreds of billions of years while the shells about them would still provide the equivalent surface area of billions of worlds per star.
They're getting bit? Hmm.. logical. ISIS are nothing more than a bunch of rabid shits.
6614546
That would make sense if she didn't already use the word "alien" before, and didn't know what a "being" was. But at this point, she has most definitely learned alien.
And "alien" refers to any foreigner, yes. Different city, different country, different continent, different planet, different universe...all aliens.
6614655 Sadly that math still exists.. you are talking a drone being like what the miltary uses and then some since they work autonomously something that cost several thousand dollars at least compared to a person that you are only paying minim wage if such a thing exists
oh, some of the comment reminded me of 3 books by John Ringo:
"live free or die", "Citadel", and "the hot gate".
in the first story, earth is effectively conquered by SLIGHTLY more advanced aliens known as the Horvath, (they resemble squids) and forced to pay tribute, or have all their cities destroyed by "kinetic energy weapons".
the protagonist eventually manages to get some friendly aliens to help, by selling stuff to them...
i don't want to spoil it, it's quite silly and funny!