Chapter VII
Chapter VII
Doctor Level Head rubbed his temples as he looked down at all the paperwork he had to do. Sometimes he wondered if he should have become a garbage collector. Sure, he saved ponies’ lives as a doctor, but sometimes he wondered if it was worth all the stupidity he had to go through before and after that fact.
With a grunt of frustration, he threw his quill to the table, levitated a small, red ball in front of him, and began weaving magics around it. Very, very slowly, the ball began to change, its smooth sides melting away to reveal a tiny replica of the pony skeleton.
Transmutation magic was his specialty, and he always found the small, detailed work to be the most soothing when his mind was frazzled like this. It always made him feel like he was just on the edge of solving the Spirit/Physical DNA problem and all the issues that came with it.
True, what he was doing now had nothing to do with permanently fixing someone’s spina bifida, but he could at least pretend.
He could at least dream of a world where his brother could walk without his cart.
A sudden slam not only jolted him from his musings, but also broke the spell he was weaving. With what sounded like a small explosion in reverse, the small, articulate model of a pony skeleton snapped back into its original, ball-like shape.
With an upset huff, the doctor looked up at his office door, quite ready to tell whomever had disturbed him off for… well, disturbing him.
At the doorway hovered a blue pegasus with a wild, rainbow-colored mane. The doctor faintly remembered her being one of the Elements of Harmony, which is why he quickly pushed down the irritation that he was feeling at her interrupting him. “May I help you?”
The blue pegasus flew up to his desk in a flash, making him gulp uncomfortably as she slammed her hooves on the wooden surface and looked at him with a piercing, angry glare. “What in Tartarus happened to him?”
At this point, Doctor Level Head was both frightened, and confused. “I-I’m sorry, but what? Who?”
“Defender! You operated on him, didn’t you? Shouldn’t you know what those freaks did to him!?” the mare almost shouted at him.
Suddenly, everything became clear for the doctor. She wasn’t angry at him, but heaven help those that she was angry at. “Ah… I see. Calm down, Miss…?”
“Dash, Rainbow Dash!” the mare said, though this time she spoke a little less forceful.
“Well, I regret to inform you that I’m not that kind of doctor. I didn’t do the operation myself, bu-”
Before the doctor could finish, Miss Dash threw her hooves up into the air, and made an inarticulate noise towards the ceiling. “Well, who did do the operation, then!?”
“Again, I must ask you to calm down!” the doctor said again. “I may not be the surgeon responsible, but I was there. Not only that, but I have been on this team since the beginning, and know as much as anyone about what happened to him.”
Miss Dash immediately perked up at that. “So, you can tell me what I want to know?” she asked, practically shoving her nose into his eye with how close she got to him.
“Gah! Yes, I can! But only if you sit down!” he said, trying in vain to regain his personal space through physical means.
Reluctantly, the blue pegasus left the doctor’s bubble and took a seat.
“Finally,” the doctor grumbled as he straightened his lab coat. “You need a lesson in manners, Miss Dash.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever… Just tell me everything those overgrown ants did to ~Alex~ already,” Miss Dash said with a flippant wave of her hoof.
“I don’t know.”
There was a moment of quiet, during which the Element of Harmony in front of Level Head looked like she really wanted to take his head off.
“You have three seconds to explain,” she said with a growl.
“Calm yourself, Miss Dash. The only ones who know everything that happened to him are not in any position to tell us anything. After all, the dead do not talk without some serious repercussions for the living,” Level Head said, not intimidated in the slightest. “I do, however, know a little based on ‘Defender’s’ state when he was brought in.”
This, of course, deflated her anger again. “Oh… Well, what do you know, then?”
The doctor sighed, opened one of the many folders in front of him, then shook his head. “Less than I would like, but more than enough to make me fear the creatures responsible. The mechanical devices in his head alone are the stuff of nightmares…”
“Wait, they shoved metal into his head!?” Miss Dash asked, looking completely disgusted at the thought.
Level Head looked at her sharply, his eyebrow raised suspiciously. “Didn’t the Princesses tell you anything when they brought you on board? It was the primary way they were controlling him!”
“I… may have zoned out during their more… boring discussions,” Miss Dash admitted sheepishly. She then straightened up, a determined look in her eye. “But that’s why I’m here now. I need to know what they did to him if I’m going to be able to help him!”
Doctor Level Head shrugged a little, accepting her explanation without comment. “Well, Miss Dash, you have your work cut out for you. The damage and modifications on him were quite extensive. Many of them we only know about because of how his body… reacted... to our regeneration magic.”
“Go ahead and lay it on me, doc. And stop calling me 'Miss Dash.’ Rainbow or Dash will do.”
“...Very well, Rainbow,” Level Head said, perusing his patient’s medical records for a second before continuing. “Let’s see… What did we pull out of you…”
* * *
“Why are you still afraid?”
I looked around frantically, my eyes wide as I tried to find the source of the noise. My back met the wood of a nearby tree as I tried to make myself less vulnerable to the fanged death that had been stalking me for the better part of an hour, but I couldn’t help but feel like it was nothing but a stalling gesture. All it meant was that death had to come at me from the front, and the amount of resistance I could put up would probably be akin to a fly attacking a bug zapper.
“Why do you continue to torment yourself?”
I heard a low growl, and the beast slowly approached me, its claws gleaming in the faint moonlight as its maw dripped with some sort of vile ichor. Unbidden, a new emotion began to rise in my chest, one that I was all too familiar with.
With a loud scream, I rushed forward, a rock somehow appearing in my hand as I sought to take down the beast, to push it back, to punish it for tormenting me. It seemed surprised at my sudden change of demeanor, even going so far as to raise its claws in defense, its whole posture changing from one of aggression, to that of timid fear.
I barely noticed, though. My mind was overflowing with rage and hatred, so much so that I had little room in my brain for anything else. With an enraged snarl, I hit the monster over and over again, its face becoming more mangled which each strike. The beast tried to get away, but I wasn't having any of that. With a growl, I grabbed it by the back of the neck and shoved it against the tree, its bones snapping in a sickening way as I slammed it against the hard, unyielding wood.
I went to town on it, my face twisting in anger, even as a quiet voice in my head recoiled in horror as it witnessed the brutality of my actions.
After what seemed like hours, the beast finally stopped moving, and I stepped back, feeling exhausted, but strangely light. I looked down in victory at the lump I had created, a victorious grin on my face, happy that the demon was finally dead.
My grin froze, though, when I noticed the bright orange fur beneath the blood and gore.
I dropped the rock and backed away, horror shooting through my brain as my eyes caught sight of my bloody, suddenly clawed hands. My heart rate quickened and my throat was dry as I looked around me. I wasn't in the forest anymore. Instead, I was in an all-too familiar place, homes around me burned, while on the ground around me were a myriad of bodies, each familiar, each a face I knew. Some were natives of this planet, others were human, while a small, select few were… others. The snake lady was there, as was Captain Hazalk, and the team he had sent to extract me.
All were lifeless and bloody.
“Ah… that’s why…”
Without any further warning, the scene around me began to crack, as if all the horror I could see was nothing more than a stained glass window. My emotions calmed, but I could still feel the guilt and horror bubble underneath, as if they were merely being suppressed, rather than fully fading.
By this point, I had already figured out what had happened, and I already knew what was going to happen. Not really seeing, or caring where I was going, I made my way over to where I knew that my favorite chair would appear, and sat down with a heavy thud before it had even fully appeared, or before the previous dream had fully shattered.
I heard the clip clop of her hooves before I saw her, but I didn’t bother looking up. I had a feeling that I already knew what she was going to say, something about fearing my own power, or some sort of rubbish like that.
“Alex, look at me.” Her voice was firm, but not unkind. I knew that tone of voice, my mother had used it on me countless times, usually after I had done something incredibly stupid. Dutifully, I let my eyes pan up, only to see something I hadn’t expected.
“You fear what you may yet do with your power. That you might one day lose control again.” It wasn’t a question, but neither was it an accusation. Instead, she talked as if she had seen this sort of thing before, her eyes filled with an almost haunted recognition.
I looked away again, regretfully rubbing my arm. “Yeah…”
She stared at me for a bit longer, her eyes searching for something. Whatever it was she was looking for, she seemed to find it, judging by the satisfied nod and slight smile. “Alex, please come with me. There is something I must show you.”
I suddenly noticed a door behind her. It was made of wooden planks and painted a deep blue, with Moon’s mark in the center. Otherwise, it was completely featureless, lacking even a basic handle or latch to open it. “Follow me,” she said as the door opened by itself.
I stood up and followed her. I wasn’t really expecting much when I passed through. Maybe I would find myself back in that little pony town, surrounded by groups of ponies telling me that I wasn’t as bad as I thought I was, or something else equally asinine.
Instead, I found myself in an opulent throne room. It bore some similarities to the throne room that Sun had taken me to when we met Hazalk and his snake friend, such as the general day/night theme, but there were some definite differences.
For example, this place had tapestries, instead of the gorgeous stained glass windows, as well as some sort of podium near the back. It only took me a single turn to take the whole place in, and I quickly noticed that Moon had somehow disappeared when I had.
“Hello? Moon?” I asked as I made my way to the only exit I could see, which were the huge double doors near the front of the hall.
“Not another step!” a familiar voice called out. I quickly turned around to see Moon, standing near the podium, anger written all over her face.
“Um… Moon? Did I do something wrong?” I asked, unsure at her sudden hostility.
“Did you really expect me to sit idly by, while they all basked in your precious light?”
“Uh, light? They? What are you smoking, sister?” I asked, now thoroughly lost.
“It is a memory,” a voice next to me said, causing me to turn my head so fast that, if I had been awake, would surely have given me whiplash. Standing next to me was Moon, her gaze locked on the doppelganger of herself, an expression of pain written on her face.
“If this is a memory-” I started to say, but stopped as the Moon in the front of the room began speaking again.
“There can only be ONE Princess in Equestria! And that Princess will be ME!!” she shouted as she crushed the stone podium beneath her apparently mighty hooves. As the podium fell to pieces, a crack began to form in the wall behind her, eventually shattering the wall entirely, revealing a bright sunny day outside.
With a flap of her mighty wings, the memory of Moon took flight, raising her hooves in front of her as the moon behind her mimicked her actions. The second that the moon fully eclipsed the sun, a shadow surrounded the winged unicorn, until I could see nothing but a dark ball of pulsing energy.
“I was jealous of my sister,” Moon said as the sun, eclipsed by the moon, completely disappeared. I couldn’t even see the orange ring anymore. Instead, my view of the outside displayed nothing but the beautiful night sky.
However, since I knew that these two princesses controlled the sun and moon, I easily guessed that that was a bad thing.
“I felt unappreciated, so I sought power that was not my own, to receive the recognition that I felt I deserved,” she said sadly. “Unfortunately, the power I sought had its own agenda.”
There was a sound almost like an explosion, and the orb of darkness that covered the memory fell away. Moon wasn’t her usual blue self anymore; instead, her coat was as black as midnight, her teeth were razor sharp, and her eyes resembled a cat’s. She threw back her head and gave out a cackle in a voice that I did not recognize.
Suddenly, images and feelings flashed through my head. Rage, hate, fear, horror. There were flashes of light, a battle of some sort, high over a city, then a cacophony of colors, followed by an unnatural stillness.
Despite the rush and confusion of what I experienced, I suddenly knew what had happened. “You... You tried to kill everyone?” I asked, horrified.
“I did. But at the same time, I did not,” she said as the memory faded until there was nothing left but a deep darkness, except right where we were standing, as if we were in the middle of a spotlight. I turned to the princess, and realized there were tears in her eyes. “I… I only wanted them to love me, to love my night. But the power I gained, it… consumed me. I became a prisoner in my own body, unable to do anything but watch as I attacked my sister, my people, and my planet.”
Slowly, my right hand reached up, and gently touched the back of my neck. Though this was all a dream, I could still feel the small, metal hole located there. “You’re just like me…”
She shook her head sadly. “Not quite. While you were taken unwillingly, I chose to take the darkness into me. We had similar experiences, yes, but you were an unwilling pawn, while I was an unwitting dupe.”
The darkness faded away, revealing the throne room from before. Except, it was different. There was definitely signs of age, as if this place hadn’t been touched in centuries.
Yet, the memory of Moon was still here, only… younger. A lot younger.
Around her I could see six familiar ponies, all wearing pieces of jewelry that matched the marks on their flanks. Hugging the younger Moon, as if she hadn’t tried to destroy everything she had known and loved, was Sun.
My eyes, however, were on the actual Moon, who was walking among the six that I had already met, looking at them with unabashed gratitude. “Had it not been for these six, I would have remained a pawn. But still, that power, that strength, the ability to destroy this planet remains.”
She gave me a look that, while very familiar, I had not seen on anyone’s face but my own reflection. “It has been over two years since I was freed from my tormentor. I know your pain, because I have lived it myself. I know the terror of having the power to kill, but no desire to do so. I do not use it, because I never want to be that person again.”
“Why are you showing me this?” I asked her, feeling completely bewildered.
She walked towards me, tears still in her eyes, but a look of grim determination plastered on her muzzle. “Because, my friend, I wanted you to know. To know who I was, and what I’ve done. But more importantly, I wanted you to know that what you did doesn’t have to define you.”
She turned around and began walking away, her eyes locked on the rising sun that could be seen outside the ancient castle window. “It isn’t our pasts that define us, but rather, our choices in the here and now. And if someone as wicked as I, who willingly chose the darkness, can turn around and use her power to help others; then someone like you, who was forced into evil, can do far more good than I.”
I walked until I was next to her, my eyes locked on that beautiful sunrise. We stood there for quite some time, just staring as the sun climbed higher and higher into the sky. Finally, I looked over at her, to notice that she was still crying, even though she was smiling. “You should go back. It’s almost time to-”
Before she could finish, I wrapped my arms around her neck, and buried my face into her shoulder. “Thank you for telling me, Moon. I know that couldn’t have been easy for you,” I said as tears ran down my face as well. I briefly thought about how inappropriate it was for an alien like me to hug pony royalty, but I didn’t care. “For what it’s worth, I don’t blame you for what you did.”
“But I-”
“No,” I said, pulling away, yet leaving my hands on her shoulders. “If I’m to forgive myself, then you need to as well.”
“But-”
“No, listen! If my nightmares can get out and cause havoc and destruction, then imagine what yours could do if given the same opportunity,” I smiled at her, then gently reached up, and touched the tip of her nose. The unexpected movement caused her to stop crying, and scrunch her face in annoyance. “Listen to me. Your deal with that power may have been your fault, but everything it did in your body?” I took a deep breath. I knew that if I was to say it out loud to her, it was meant for me as well.
And standing here, in the memory of a place where someone else like me was freed from their imprisonment, the task of forgiveness that had once seemed so daunting now seemed so trivial.
“Everything it did was its fault. Not yours.”
She smiled sadly, and I pulled her back into a hug as tears ran freely from both our faces. I felt light. Far lighter than I had in months, and for the first time in a long time, I found that I couldn’t wait until the next time I found myself asleep.
“Alex, thank-” she started to say, but whatever she said was drowned out by a loud, obnoxious howling sound.
* * *
“GAH! I’M AWAKE!” I shouted as I sat bolt upright, my eyes darting about, trying to figure out what happened.
Hovering just outside of swatting range, but still well within death glare range, was Rainbow, a bright silver whistle in her lips, and a baseball cap on her head. How she got a baseball cap was beyond me, but the importance of that information was insignificant next to how incredibly irritated I felt towards the blue pegasus.
She started shouting at me in her language, waving her hooves for emphasis, and pointing towards me, the door, and the window in rapid succession. With my extremely limited vocabulary, I caught the words ‘teach,’ ‘exercise,’ and ‘muscles.’ Given how our last meeting went, it didn’t take me very long to figure out what she wanted.
I narrowed my eyes dangerously at her, reached behind myself, and calmly, but firmly, chucked my pillow at her head. I then promptly pulled my blanket over my head, and pretended that the rest of the world did not exist.
* * *
Valerie nervously fiddled with the corners of her jacket as she sat and waited, the plastic seat under her feeling cold and hard. As she picked at her coat, she noticed a large, dark burn along its side. A calm, distant voice in her head told her that it was probably from when the aliens shot at and missed her, but she barely even registered it.
She was too busy trying to think of nothing at all.
“Hey, I got you some coffee,” a familiar voice said. She glanced up to see Detective Daniel Callister, a steaming mug in each hand, and an unsure smile on his mustachioed face.
Callister wasn't a tall man, but what he lacked in height, he more than made up for in bulk. He wasn't fat by any stretch of the imagination, just wide and muscular. His brown hair had already started to turn grey, more from the stress of the job, than from any actual aging. He wasn’t wearing his coat at the moment, just his regulation pants and a white, button up shirt, which showed off his sidearm belted at his ribs.
She gratefully took the cup, her eyes glued on its violently rippling surface, and faintly wondered why it was still boiling.
“Eh… maybe I should hold onto that, for you,” the detective said, taking the mug back and setting it on the table next to her. She wondered briefly why it stopped boiling so suddenly, but figured it didn't matter as much as not thinking.
“You feeling any better?” the detective asked as he leaned back against the wall opposite from where she was sitting. He had a concerned look on his face, and she briefly wondered why. After a while of waiting for a response, he decided on another tactic. “So… you wanna tell me what-” he started to ask, but stopped when Valerie spoke for the first time since the boys had found her, huddled next to Jill’s porch, covered in her own vomit.
“Is she okay?”
Callister briefly considered lying to her, but immediately threw that thought out the window. He knew that comforting lies weren't a bandage, but dirt over an already infected wound. “I’m sorry, Val, but it looks like there was a third… thing. We think that after you got the second one, the third grabbed Jill and ran off into the night.”
Val froze at that. “Th… Third!? I only… I only shot…” she said as she began to hyperventilate.
“Val, calm down, It’s… Well... It looks like Jill got the first one. The third… we used dogs to follow its scent to a clearing, but… it kind of...”
“It disappeared, didn’t it?” Valerie asked, easily guessing where this was going.
The detective sighed, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. “...Yeah, it did. It didn’t leave without a trace, though. We found a huge, sunken depression in that clearing. We’re thinking it got away in its… its ship...”
There was a heavy silence that followed, as if openly stating where the monsters had come from somehow made the whole situation more real. “...What if they invade?” Valerie asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Callister sighed, then looked around, his eyes seemingly not wanting to meet hers. “I don’t know… We’ll have to take it as it comes, okay?”
Valerie gave another depressed sniffle, then folded her hands in her lap. “Dan… I-”
“Callister?” a voice interrupted them. The two looked up to see the police chief, his expression unreadable as he gestured towards a thin, severe-looking woman in a dark, plain suit. Her dark hair was tied up in a bun behind her head, and her dark complexion revealed little to no obvious makeup. “This is Agent Vale, of the F.B.I.; go ahead and give her everything she needs. She’ll be taking over the investigation from now on.”
“Gotcha, Chief,” Detective Callister said as he stood up. He then gave the agent a piercing stare, unsure of what to make of her. “So, what would you like to see first, Agent Vale?”
“I first need to see the bodies, to verify their origin,” she said as she adjusted her glasses. “Just a precautionary measure, I assure you. Your pictures were more than enough to convince my superiors of the validity of your claims. After we’re finished with that, we'll see where we go from there.”
The detective gave a worried look towards Valerie, but other than a discontent sniffle, she decided to remain quiet. “Sure. Follow me, I’ll take you to see Jacob, he’s in charge of cold storage and evidence lockup.”
Before he left, though, he gave Valerie one last look. “You going to be okay by yourself?”
She sniffled a little bit, but nodded her head.
“Good. If you need anything, don't hesitate to bother Perkins about it. He’d enjoy the company,” Callister said before leaving, taking the F.B.I. agent with him.
Valerie smiled a bit, but otherwise didn’t say anything. She was having too much trouble with her own thoughts anyway.
* * *
Agent Vale barely spent a minute looking at the corpses before pulling out her phone and hitting one of the numbers she had on speed dial. “Feral? It's Country Girl. Validity confirmed. Give Gamble the green light.”
“So, I take it you’ve seen one of these before?” Detective Callister asked, his tone clearly not amused.
“I’m sorry, but that’s classified.”
The detective lifted a single eyebrow in disbelief. “Classified? Unless you’re planning to kill me, I and my team already know far more than we should.”
She looked at him for a second, then back at the corpse on the workbench. “Let me make this very clear; this is not a cover-up. If it were, we wouldn't be standing here having this conversation. I am not at liberty to tell you anything, but let me remind you of something: you just killed two members of a malevolent alien species and took their equipment. If I were them, I’d already have an extraction team on its way.”
That immediately put the detective on edge. “Do you mean that-”
“I’m sorry, sir, but we do not have any more time to explain,” Agent Vale said as a number of men in hazmat suits entered the room and began to pack up all of the recovered alien artifacts, including the bodies. They worked fast and efficient, packing up everything relevant in a matter of minutes. “Our window of opportunity is closing, and we need to move before they send reinforcements. I suggest you get your men equipped to deal with the possible backlash, but do not fear; we’ve already called the cavalry. They should be here within the hour to reinforce you during the night. For now, though, I need you to take me to your primary witness, she needs to come with us for now.”
As the agent talked, Callister did not feel a sense of security or comfort from her words. All he felt was a mounting sense of dread. “We’re not going to make it, are we?” he asked as the agent turned to see her men out.
She looked back at him, and for a brief second, Callister thought he saw something there. Pity? Compassion? Whatever it was, it was gone before he could identify it. “I wouldn't give up just yet. We’re tougher than we know, and I… Well, let's just leave it at that, before I get us both in trouble. Now, if you’ll lead the way? We need to get your witness to safety as soon as possible,” she said, motioning for him to take her to Valerie, clearly unaware that the young lady they left in the hall was the very person she was looking for.
The detective gave her one last look, but this one wasn’t one of his sharp, searching glares. No, this was one that looked like he wanted reassurances that he knew the agent couldn’t give. With a weak little shrug, he stuck his hands in his pockets and left cold storage, the federal agent in tow.
It didn’t take them long to find Valerie, seeing as she hadn’t moved an inch from where they left her. “Val? Hey, we-”
“You need me to go with the agent, don’t you?” Valerie asked, interrupting the detective.
“We won’t force you to do anything, but if you want to avoid dying, I highly recommend it,” Agent Vale said, adjusting her glasses a little.
Valerie nodded sadly, then stood up. “I already figured something like this was going to happen, especially after all those men in hazmat suits came through here.”
“I’m really sorry about this, ma’am. If you’ll follow me out to the car? You can tell me about what happened on the way to the safe house.”
Valerie didn’t say anything, choosing to instead nod, keep her eyes on the tiles in front of her, and follow the F.B.I. agent as she made her way to the front of the station. Waiting at the front doors were two large, burly men in suits. One was talking to someone on his phone, while the other kept his eyes peeled on the room around them. As soon as the three came around the corner, the one without the phone gave his partner a nudge.
“They’re ready, sir. ETA is thirty minutes. Yes sir, I’ll tell her,” the man then turned off his phone with the press of a button and pocketed it as he looked up at Agent Vale. “Feral just got some blips, they are already on their way. We need to move now.”
“Thank you, Agent Coal.” Agent Vale turned to Detective Callister and handed him a small business card. “If you find anything else, or hear about anything else, I suggest you call this number. It won’t answer, but someone will contact you within ten minutes of your call. Good luck, detective.”
Callister took the card, feeling as if it was some kind of cobra, rather than a lifeline. “Thank you, Agent Vale. I have a feeling that I’ll need all the luck I can get.”
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The scene with Luna was certainly both important and heartening, while the scenes on Earth convey a proper sense of dread as to the Imperials' intentions & history on Earth. As always, looking forward to the next update as well
The way everyone is so resoundingly sensible remains one of my favourite things about this story. Yes, no silly, nonsensical cover-up operations or pretending against any good sense that the alien randomly shooting at people was just an animatronic, please. Just this once, a story that actually has people react to a situation like that as if they were people instead of a caricature.
I loved this update a lot but I was confused with Dash's attitude. Since when was she all of a sudden so devoted to Alex? Not that big of a deal but I was just a little curious. I'm also glad to see that the human government isn't QUITE doing the stereotypical "You didn't see anything or you will end up suicide'd" route.
7645797 She has never said as much, so no.
Pure detective will have to fight aliens and there is a very big chance of death.
We XCOM now?
So, are we going to see something like the Nautilus Protocol hijacking sequence?
Wow, 30 simultaneous readers?!?! That's pretty awesome!
Very important things happened, things are looking up, and elsewhere not so up.
Keep going! ;)
7645802 You'll find out.
7645854 She had other things on her mind at the time. Besides, it wasn't something that she felt was extremely important.
and then they find out about how the hostiles were a separate faction to the species
Hmm, all this stuff on Earth makes me wonder - where are you heading with this? Now don't get me wrong, it's interesting to see the government reactions to alien contact (especially where they aren't portrayed as boneheaded coverup extremists, so props for that) and no doubt it's going to have major repercussions for Earth and human race as a whole down the road - but realistically Earth simply has no way to be relevant to the larger issues or participate in Alex's story. Not unless something drastically changes (and no, discovering a few alien guns won't suddenly make Earth a factor in space this side of the closest century).
In other words, I am trying to figure out how the Earth side of things could possibly connect up to Alex's side of things (and it would have to, in order to be important to the main focus of the story) ... and just about the only thing I can imagine is Twilight (Celestia? Luna?) rigging up a portal to Earth, Equestria Girls style. That's about the only way I can see connecting Alex with his homeworld again on a reasonable time basis, because he sure as heck isn't going to willingly set foot on any alien spaceship that isn't of Pony make - and needless to say, Ponies have no spaceships at the moment, nor are they likely to have them anytime soon even if their magitech departments go ham on trying to design ones.
I mean, I'm sure Equestria (and the world at large, perhaps) will undergo a massive space race as one of their first priorities now that they know that hostile alien species are out there. But even with magic, Alex and alien ship samples I wouldn't expect anything sooner than at least a decade (and that's probably optimistic as is).
So ... are the Equestrians going to dig up Starswirls old mirror and open a portal to Earth? Because I don't see many other ways how the two sides could connect at this point in time. Unless the snakes plan on making official contact with Earth I guess, but you still aren't getting Alex on one of their ships, I don't think.
7645916 You'll have to wait and see. I ain't saying anything, but what's happening back on earth is going to be important. trust me on this.
7645856 I hope so. I also hope that the Qzin show up on earth soon, and inform the humans that these Krin invaders are rebels. And possibly tell humanity about why they took interest in them. And also point out just why these rebels are on earth and what happened to Alex and several others. And tell them where Alex is now, maybe even take Valerie there if she and a bunch of soldiers and government agents doesn't wind up using the krin ship to get there first.
Also, MORE!
Well, you certainly have the stereotypical federal agent done well, frustratingly ambiguous.
I know how alex feels about sleep, if I can get all the sleep I want then bring on whatever the day has, but if I'm woken before my time then to hell with you all. Can't wait for the next chapter.
7646005
I don't think these were Krin.I dont recall the correct names, but these bipedal abductors are a vassal species of the insectoid guys' Empire.EDIT: i am wrong
7646039 No, these things weren't bipedal. In fact, I deleberately mentioned four legs right here in chapter VI:
These are Krin, no doubt about it.
7646039 I thought that the Krin rebels didn't have any allies.
7646043 Don't worry, he's wrong. I already posted a message about how he missed something. It's fine, though, I'm okay when someone misses something, it lets me go back and figure out if I missed an important detail.
7646045 Okay then. So the rebels DON'T have another race that works for them.
Ah... Humans.
Well, Buggies. Let's see how you compare in a traditional arms race.
7646049 Nope. Little spoilery, but after the war, the old Krin empire had literally zero allies. They had pissed off EVERYONE. These rebels are the remains of the old Krin empire, so technically they wouldn't be rebels. They would see the government set up by the Quzin as rebels, but that's just semantics.
7646053 I expected them to have no allies. Although they could have enslaved another race of course. I'm still calling them rebels though, they're have less people on their side then the current krin empire, and they're opposing the current government, albeit in secret.
7646065 Fair enough.
7646066 Well, that's what I consider a rebellion, a group, usually containing less people then their nations armed forces, that opposes the current government of their country.
7646077 Usually, yes. But from the point of view of the previous emperor? He sees the current government as nothing but traitors and rebels, siding with the enemy.
7646083 Figures. I'm pretty sure warlike dictators that were overthrown and whoever was still loyal to them would consider the new government as such. A certain dictator from Germany comes to mind.
7646086 Eyup.
So either she was shaking badly enough to slosh everything in the cup or she is either a pyrokinetic or a hydrokinetic. (Or magic) Either way, looks like some new possibilities are going to be forthcoming soon enough.
7646083
From the Krin´s perspective, how "dangerous" are humans as specie? the one who went to abduct the women was scared shitless of how much resistence a single civilian could offer? As a non magical, low tech race with few biological advantages, what can give us as edge in comparation with Equestrians or Krins?
Okay I'll be honest, I really don't like the Earth side story going on, I just really couldn't care less about it and I feel it takes away from the main story thread too much. I really thought the last chapter we would have seen the last of Earth but you seem to be dragging it out somewhat. Plus this chapter a few things didn't make sense to me. First off how would the agent know what these aliens were unless this exact thing has happened before with the aliens leaving a body behind and then coming back for it? If so then why in the last chapter would they have had such outdated information?
Also this is a pretty idiotic response, they sent in a hazmat team with only ONE agent? They had a good feeling it was aliens and they didn't send at least a platoon of soldiers to secure it? That should have been a given, not to mention a military transport under guard to take everything to a more secure location. Also why would the aliens even bother with going back for any of that? They took heavy losses just to grab one human (it still makes no sense how or why they seemed to target her instead of any random person that would have been isolated and much easier to get since you gave no reasons for this) so why would they try and grab something from a secure building that they would know they were coming for them? Militarily that's suicide, they can't be this stupid. It would have been smarter to just cut and run or bomb it from orbit.
7646211 I'd think it'd be more appropriate to send a SMALL hazmat team (3-4 people), and a single squad - of Recon or other Special Forces. A full platoon or larger would draw far too much attention. Keep it as quiet as possible, as long as possible.
7646211
I can understand the complaint about the story focusing away from Alex' side of it recently. Personally, I'd appreciate a chapter or two that just progresses things on his end again as well, because ultimately, he's what all of us are reading the story for. The rest of that makes perfect sense when you look at it from the actual story context, though, not through preconceptions about how the aliens ought to be behaving.
The reason is that they're separatists. They don't have the manpower or the military strength to really invest that kind of force into the situation. They were set to go in and out quickly and with provoking a minimum of attention both from outside observers and the locals themselves. They just can't afford it. They can't just go around bombing the place because that'll make it only harder to get more useful samples of the same background and general area as the last pass they went for. They don't actually care about two sets of equipment. They have no reason to bomb it at all. That's just a misunderstanding on the human's side.
7646211 If you were paying attention she said that:
and given the short timetable it was likely a rush job put together to secure the evidence and GTFO ASAP before the enemy arrived.
As to your complaints about the Earth arc in general: if the author says it's important trust him, he knows more than you. To be honest I'm usually just happy for more story, especially when it gives insight into events elsewhere.
The fed seems a LOT nicer than I ever would have expected. I also get the feeling that the incoming blips are not the bugs.
This has got to be among my top 10 HFY stories, can't wait to read more. Especially now that the Earth Humans are getting more involved and Alex is going to finally start learning how to properly move his body.
Nice Chapater.
I suspect they abducted her specifically because Alex knows her and are gong to try to use that to their advantage somehow. Though, I see that having an extreme backfire to them, probably causing lots of death on there end.
7646185
High-powered ballistic weaponry... aka: All of our guns. They don't seem to have a very good concept about them and virtually no protection from them.
Yussss! It lives! And we finally hit this scene- nice job!
7646635 sorry about that, my phone flipped out and thought I hit the unpublished button when I know I didn't. Had to reset my phone to get it to work again.
I don't think I mentioned it before but I wasn't expecting it to go XCOM/MIB.
7645916 I guess that the Snakes are going to be initiating first contact with earth soon since they said in a previous chapter that it would have happened a long time ago if they had known about humans.
7646185 At current time wouldn't humans fall under ‘mostly harmless’. A tiger can really mess you up in a one on one fist fight but it would not be able to do anything against a battleship. Humans may be superior on a one to one or small scale skirmish basis but the krin are still a space faring species, and space is the highest ground you can occupy,
They do however have a potential to be just as scary as the Snake wizards. Maybe more so given any relative difference in culture.
7646110 My reading of it is that she was shaking uncontrollably; all the narrative cues point to her being incredibly traumatized by the attack, and uncontrollable shaking would fit with that type and level of trauma. (That's not to say I'm discounting the possibility of Sudden Magic Powers, though I do find something like that incredibly unlikely given the way the story is going.)
7646835 These are the guys, or 'rogue scientists' that are working towards making more humans into those 'creatures of war' as I like to call them. If there was a Krin battleship involved the government of the Krin would know and take it into their own hands to insure safety. Atleast, this is what I think.
Nice to see Alex beginning to heal mentally. And so much plot progression here! Looks like events are speeding up a bit.
Also really curious to see how Rainbow's training goes. Something tells me that some tests will bomb and others will be obliterated!
I love how Rainbow Dash broke up the heartwarming moment between Alex and Luna by waking him up with the whistle.
Great chapter, cant wait for more!
7645797
Yeah, this has been bothering me as well.
7648740 I actually already answered this question. She hasn't said her name during his dreams, nor has she felt it important enough to do so. She frankly doesn't care if he gets her name wrong or not. Besides, the word Luna literally means Moon, as does the word Selene. To be precise, those words are the Roman and Greek gods of the moon, respectfully, so it really doesn't matter what he calls her. He'll figure it out eventually, though.
7648755
In the memory, Celestia directly calls Luna by her name.
Seeing as how Luna's dream-influence so perfectly translates despite the language barrier, her name should translate to the closest possible concept.
Logically, Luna would be the name he would call her, as Luna is a word in the human languages and a common one at that. "Luna" itself is not a pony word/name, so her name (in any world where ponies don't natively speak English) is translated to it's nearest match in the English language for our benefit, that name's nearest English translation being "Luna".
By all accounts, he should be hearing her name as "Luna" as clearly as we are reading it in this fic.