Xenoblade Equestria

by sailing101

Awakening

As the friendship Express pulled into the makeshift station, Twilight couldn't help but stare in awe. She had ridden along this very route several times since moving to Ponyville, and had memorized every landmark the train passed, every twist and turn of the tracks that made up the line connecting Ponyville to Canterlot. But now, there was a drastic change to the once-familiar landscape. A great scar in the land marked where the remains of the ship had slid across the ground before impacting the mountainside, smooth streaks of blue crystal were laced into the ground at varying intervals. The railway to Canterlot had been completely severed beyond this point, a mess of tangled tracks was all that was left ahead of the train. The pod itself was imbedded in the mountain's base, tilted at a sharp angle. As Twilight stepped off the train, she was able to get a better look at the structure. A vast metal ring was wrapped around the pod's outer perimeter, while the top side was covered by a blue barrier. The crystal nest surrounded the underside of the pod, holding it firmly within the mountain. Royal Guardsponies patrolled the area, keeping watch for any signs of movement within the structure.

“My word! It's hard to imagine that such a thing flew right over our heads just last night!”

Twilight turned to see her friend, Rarity, disembark from the train. The fashion pony had chosen to forgo her usual attire for a trip to Canterlot, opting to wear just a simple sunhat for the trip.

“Yeah! How Awesome was it?” Rainbow Dash replied, flying out of the train behind Rarity, “I mean, aside from the whole crashing thing, but can you imagine how cool it must have looked before then?”

“Oh, I do hope, that they're all right, whatever they are.” Dear Fluttershy, her kind heart always reaching out to others in need, had not hesitated to come along. Not even the possibility of danger could dissuade her from trying to lend aid in any way she could.

“Oo! Oo! Me too! How else could I throw them a 'Welcome to Equestria' party if they weren't feeling well?” said Pinkie Pie, as she hopped out of the train. “I wonder what they're like?” the pink pony wondered, “Oo! Maybe they're like kickplot rebels who trow reason to the curb, fighting against an oppressive intergalactic regime that wants to stomp out any race that tries to pierce the heavens! Or maybe they're all giant robots that can transform into cool vehicles, fleeing their war-torn planet for calmer space, only to be chased here by another faction of giant transforming robots! Or MAYBE, they're all normal sized robots built so well that you couldn't tell them apart from a living thing, but they were originally flesh and blood before robotifying themselves and now they're dealing with a species wide identity crisis of what constitutes as a living thing!”

“Land's sakes Pinkie, If any a that were true, ah'll eat my hat!” Said Applejack as she followed Pinkie out. “You've been watching too many of those Neighpon cartoons with Fluttershy.”

As the six friends set hoof on solid ground, a group of royal guards trotted over to meet them. Leading the formation was a familiar alabaster unicorn stallion.

“BBBFF!” Cried Twilight, as she set off in a gallop to meet her brother.

“Twiley!” Shining Armor replied as he caught his sister in a hug. “I'm so relieved you're all right!”

Twilight broke the hug before replying, “Me, too Bbbff. For a while there it seemed like the sky itself was falling.” The group began walking to join the rest of the assembled ponies at the structure.

“Indeed,” Shining nodded in understanding. “Cadence and I were able to keep the Crystal Empire shielded, but other cities weren't as fortunate. Apparently Manehattian lost the Statue of Friendship, and everypony's heard what's happened to Canterlot Mountain by now.” He turned to look at the crashed pod. “All sings point to this being the largest surviving piece if the object. Nopony's been able to find an opening, though I imagine that most of them aren't very eager to look either.”

“Has any unicorn been able to detect any sign of life?” Twilight asked?

“Not yet, but no pony's been able to examine any further than a few dozen hooves inside”

“Of course, with something this massive, trying to analyze it with magic would be no small task” Twilight nodded in understanding. “I can't even begin to imagine how it must have even been constructed.”

As the conversation continued, the group eventually reached a series of tents that had been erected adjacent to the outermost edge of the pod. Shining Armor lead everypony to the largest tent. “The other princesses are in here,” He said as he opened the tent with his magic.

Twilight entered the tent to see Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, as well as a few high-ranking members of the royal guard, gathered around a table that had been placed in the center of the tent. The table displayed a hastilly drawn map of the crash site, Canterlot Mountain, and the surrounding countryside. As the rest of Twilight's friends entered the tent, Celestia looked up from the map, relief evident in her features.

“Twilight Sparkle, It is good to see that you and your friends have made it here unharmed,” she said, “One can't be too sure what dangers may have arisen in the wake of this calamity.”

“There were no difficulties along the way here,” Twilight clarified. “I'm just relieved that Canterlot is still in one piece.”

Applejack stepped forward, “Ah've been wondering about that, princess,” the apple pony stated, “It seemed like that thing was gonna bowl over the whole mountain, but it just jammed itself in the base like it belonged there.”

“I believe I can answer that,” Cadence offered, “The Crystals that appeared after the crash are not of equestrian origin, and likely originated from the craft itself. When Unicorns from the university came to collect samples, they discovered that these crystals are highly resistant to damage, and have the ability to absorb tremendous amounts of kinetic force. One pony tested the material with a rubber ball. No matter how hard the ball was thrown, it would not bounce against the crystal.”

Shining armor nodded. “It's likely that these crystals also extend deep into the heart of Canterlot Mountain, and are now holding it together,” He explained. “The craft may have created them to save both itself and Canterlot from Destruction.”

“Well that's good to hear,” said Rainbow Dash, “It's not like the aliens are here to invade us or anything, Right?”

“That's right!” Pinkie agreed, “The whole ship going to pieces and burning up seems about as effective as ramming face first into a shield spell over and over,”

“Uh, isn't that how the changelings nearly took Canterlot?” Applejack noted.

“Ahem, moving on,” said Twilight, in order to move away from that awkward train of thought. “Has there been any activity from the craft?”

“None since last night,” Luna confirmed. “It appears that this vessel is unlikely to leave it's current berth, nor is there any likelihood of there being an entrance found in the foreseeable future.”

Suddenly, cutting into the meeting, a shout of alarm overtook the camp.

“Fire!”

Everypony dashed out of the tents to see where the call had come from, those with wings took to the air to get a better view.

“Fire! there's fire coming from the vessel!” a pegasus guard called out once more, his hoof pointing out where. Sure enough, from the south edge of the pod, furthest from the mountain, a protrusion in the structure was emitting bright orange flames downward.

Looking at the fire, Twilight realized something, “Princess Celestia, I don't think this is an ordinary fire,” she noted. “It seems controlled.”

“My thought as well Twilight,” Celestia agreed, observing the inferno. “It's growing fiercer.” With a deep breath, she switched to the Royal Canterlot Voice. “Everypony, stay back!” Celestia ordered. Those who had been dashing towards the pod, some with clouds and buckets of water, froze in their tracks.

The flames gradually brightened from orange to a searing blue, the crystals immediately below quickly melting from the heat of the flames. It's job done, the fire began to dim just as suddenly as it had started, before vanishing completely. Following this, a jet of white cloud was expelled over the superheated terrain, obscuring the site from view. All was still for a moment as the fog slowly cleared, revealing what had been uncovered by the flames. Just underneath the structure that had produced the fire, a large gateway was visible. Wordlessly, the assembled ponies began to approach the site with caution.

Nearing the gateway, Twilight was able to get an estimate of how large it was. The passage looked as if two fully grown dragons could easily walk through, side by side. Barring entry was a large metal door. No obvious means of opening it were visible, however somewhere just inside, the sounds of hidden mechanisms could be heard. With the hiss of escaping air, and the groaning of metal, the door slowly began to swing downwards. The assembled ponies, with the four Princesses standing at the front, watched in awe as the massive gate slowly lowered into place. Beyond the opening, a black tunnel lead into the unknown depths of the pod. One by one, lights flickered on, revealing a series of strange figures slowly approaching from within.

As the Figures approached, their features became more distinct. They were bipedal, like a Minotaur, but more slenderly built. Some wore what appeared to be heavy armor, in a range of colors, while others wore lighter clothing. Their faces were apelike, but smoother, softer. It didn't take long for twilight to recognize what they were. Humans? Here in Equestria? But how is this possible? Indeed, the parallels to the world through Starswirl's magic mirror were uncanny. Advanced technology, wearing clothing all day long, even their appearances matched up with what Twilight remembered, aside from the much lower variety in skin tone.

Taking a closer look, Twilight noticed that many of the humans showed signs of recent injury. Splints and bandages were common, and many of the humans walked with a noticeable limp. Several could be seen supporting their comrades, and to the rear of the formation, multiple stretchers were visible, with some of the occupants unsettlingly still. Seeing this, Fluttershy let out an empathetic whimper. Twilight extended a wing out in response, giving the yellow pegasus a supportive hug.

One of the humans, a woman, was leading the group. The woman had jet black, shoulder length hair, and gray eyes. She was wearing a simple red and gray uniform, comparable to what the captain of a ship would wear. As she stepped out into the sunlight, her eyes settled on the four Princesses. Wordlessly, she held up her hand. The procession came to a stop at her command. A moment passed, a deafening silence having taken hold of the area. The tension in the air was almost tangible. As if by some unseen cue, both the princesses, and the human woman, separated from their followers, and approached one another, meeting halfway between the two races.

Now that they were standing next to each other, Twilight saw that the woman was slightly taller than Celestia. Twilight shuddered slightly, she couldn't help it. Humans seemed much larger now that she was seeing one from a pony's point of view.

The woman and Princess Celestia Examined each other wordlessly. Both their faces were unreadable, their thoughts only known to themselves. The woman was the first to make a move. Slowly, with great deliberation, she bent down on one knee, and bowed to Princess Celestia. Wordlessly, Celestia returned the gesture. The two leaders rose in sync, and returned to silently regarding one another.

Countless questions raced through Twilight's mind. How could there be humans in Equestria? Where did they come from? Now that first contact had been made, the next few hours would be crucial to building up relations with Canterlot's newest neighbors. How would Ponies react to this strange new race that had fallen from the sky?

Author's Note:

Pinkie's little tirade contains references to three famous anime shows. A cookie to anyone who can guess them.

Comments

[Tyrant Chaos]

Hmm...
1.Gurren Lagann
2.Transformers
3.Xenoblade Chronicles X?
Can I has cookie?

[Acacia Sgt]

And thus, first contact starts. Certainly gonna have to overcome some big hurdles I'd say, like the language barrier I guess. This ain't Mira after all.

Although, I am a bit confused they're bringing out their injured. Would think it'd be much more safer to leave them inside. It kinda makes me wonder just what the state of the Habitat is, assuming that's why they did that.

[sailing101]

6866972
Consider this, would you stay in a hospital where the floor is tilted at a 30 degree angle? Probably not. This habitat unit is embedded in the side of a mountain, unlike NLA which landed on a beach. Even then, NLA is sitting at a noticeable angle in the game. However, one can also see that the habitat units are in fact city sized gyroscopes, so even if the outer ring is sitting unevenly, the inner ring can be leveled out. The habitat unit in this story just hasn't had a chance to do that yet.

6866606
Sorry, your third guess was incorrect, though as you have clearly played the game, you already know that Applejack's going to be eating her hat. All three are dual references, to both a specific anime, and to Xenoblade as well.

[Acacia Sgt]

6867944

Well, I might, if the area outside was still a mostly unknown factor. Though granted, for them it would be quite easy to detect that chances are high they didn't landed in a hostile enviroment, or in the off-chance it is, one they couldn't be able to handle. Still, I would question bringing out the injured. Unless they need to fully evacuate to level the Habitat or something. Considering what a mimeosome may need to be mantained or fixed, I don't think they brought them out to do that.

[TheNotSOWittyOne]

6867944

Dual reference for first must be about the Ganglion invasion
Dual reference to the second is about how the skells transform
Third I feel is a reference to sonic the hedgehogs base plot

[Tyrant Chaos]

6867944 Ah well, I tried. Though I can't believe I didn't notice the dual references until after you brought that up. Kinda funny in hindsight really (why was I NOT thinking about skells). All that's left is to wonder how Pinkie's going to prepare AJ's hat; Baked? Flambé? Or with plenty of salt?

[Lothar1357]

6867944
6866972
Well to your explanation of the gyroscope build, it ISN'T really a gyroscope since they are spinning contraptions. The inner ring of the habitat unit is build moveable yes but it isn't a gyroscope.
I can imagine that the inner ring was fixed during the crash. Now they need to unlock those fix points in order for the habitat unit to level out. I further agree that a full evacuation wouldn't strictly be necessary since the Mimesomes are keept in stasis pods in the meintenance area which are fixed, and the mimes themselves are fixed within But I'll leave this to our author since it's his story.

On a completely unrelated note I DO hope we'll be seeing some skells in action soon. Considering how long it takes in the game to get the flight module I don't think we'll be seeing flying skells that soon.... except maybe prototypes.

Now I'm really curious how twilight will react once she finds out what we players already all know.... and To make a suggestion for Applejack I would recommend Ketchup with the hat, should be easier to swallow then.

[Radioactive Dragon]

they're all giant robots that can transform into cool vehicles, fleeing their war-torn planet for calmer space, only to be chased here by another faction of giant transforming robots! Or MAYBE, they're all normal sized robots built so well that you couldn't tell them apart from a living thing, but they were originally flesh and blood before robotifying themselves and now they're dealing with a species wide identity crisis of what constitutes as a living thing!”

transformers and fallout 4 refrences

[brony_angel282]

not to add pressure or anyting but when the next suppose to be?

[sailing101]

6998159 The next chapter is taking a little longer to write than I anticipated. It's hard figuring out a way to introduce the translator in a way that feels natural. (originally there was going to be a joke where Luna's speech wasn't translating due to 1000 years of linguistic drift, but it just didn't quite fit). Xenoblade X's explanation, The planet itself is translating for everyone, was interesting, but lazy, and Equestria don't have that anyway. And I don't think translation spells would work on Mims anyway.

Also I'm going to address the reason why the humans are currently evacuating the city. Which is also throwing a wrench in things.

[Black_lightening]

6934159 and both somewhat true to what`s going on :D

[brony_angel282]

dam that story look dead, shame it had a nice start

[sailing101]

7168139 college work, writers block and other things got in the way. I should get back to this sometime oon.

[Autarch Prime]

Well this is nice start, and I can see why they have to evacuate the Habitat since it's sitting on the side of Canterlot mountain, so they're likely compensating using gravity generators but only long enough to evacuate.

[Starcat5]

Meow.🐱

[Starcat5]

7169034
One year later: Meow 2.0 😺

[Starcat5]

I should really wait another month, or at least a few more weeks, but...
Meow 3.0 😿

[luksor22]

very cool and amazing story, I look forward to the sequel..., good job👍👌👏

[Reishin Amara]

“Land's sakes Pinkie, If any a that were true, ah'll eat my hat!” Said Applejack as she followed Pinkie out. “You've been watching too many of those Neighpon cartoons with Fluttershy.”

Hope you have enough applesauce because I hear hats are very dry going down.