“Twilight, I know you want as much knowledge as possible but could we do this at a later time?” Celestia interrupted. Twilight paused for a moment before nodding. “Thank you. We’ve got more important things to discuss.”
Celestia was about to speak up when she heard a squeak from nearby. She turned to see Twilight shocked. “Twilight? What’s wrong?”
“The… thing,” she said pointing to the ship. “It has no magical signatures present.”
“No magical signatures?” She said before turning to me. “How do you explain that?”
“Magical signatures?” I asked. “Magic isn’t a thing back home.”
“You never learnt magic?” Twilight asked.
“We never had magic at all,” I replied. There were things similar to the magic seen here, but they were all explainable. They weren’t on the same level as most things I’ve witnessed today.
“No magic? Who do you think I am? Stupid?” Twilight asked with anger.
“Twilight…” Celestia asked but she was ignored.
“How else do you explain all the feats that you’ve done?”
“Twilight…”
“You’re arrival here determines that you must have magic. There’s no other way you could’ve gotten here.”
I coughed. “Ahem, there is a thing, it’s called Technology,” I pointed out. Do they not have technology here?
“Technology?” She repeated. “Technology? Technology is just a myth created to try and explain anomalies that occur without magic or nature!”
I Approached her slowly. “Well, excuse me, but I didn’t think that magic really existed before I came here but I’m not denying that it exists. Do you even know anything outside this world?”
Suddenly, I felt a rainbow figure zoom in between us. A rainbow maned Pegasus was standing between us.
“Hey! Nobody treats Twilight like that but me!” The Pegasus shouted. “And I don’t actually treat her like that!”
I stepped around her. “This is between her and me, if you don’t have anything verbally to contribute than you can leave for now.”
“Rainbow, it’s alright,” Twilight said with a sad expression before turning to me. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry like that. You’re not from here and you’re right, I don’t know much from outside this world.”
“It’s… it’s alright,” I replied. “I shouldn’t have done it either, but all the times I’ve been stood up haven’t ended well.”
“You know, as much as an alien as you seem, you don’t seem that weird,” Twilight admitted smiling.
I chuckled.”Yeah, I mean, everything’s still weird, but at least we’re not ripping each other apart.”
Twilight chuckled nervously before turning to the ship. “So… Technology does exist…”
“And so does Magic.”
“Weird.”
“I know,” I said before turning to the five others. They haven’t said much at all. Except the Pink looks like it’s about to explode. “Well?”
“Yeah, weird.”
“Quite.”
“Incomprehensible.”
”it’s um.. Yeah I guess.”
“Oh my god! A new Alien I’ve never met before!”
The Pink one seemed to explode into confetti and dashed right over to me.
“Hey Mr Alien! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? Do you like parties? Oh who am I kidding of course you do! I mean, who doesn’t like parties? Well, some ponies pretend they don’t but I know deep down they do! But you’re an alien, maybe things are different? Oh by the way what’s your name? It can’t be a pony name, that would be weird.”
That’s all I heard before I pulled her mane right down over her face muffling her before releasing. She looked stunned for a second before giggling and stepping back once.
“That’s enough of that. To answer that, yeah I guess I like parties,” I said before turning to everyone else. “And my name is Josh.”
Celestia cleared her throat gaining our attention. “I can see that you’re conversing but as I said before there are quite important matters to attend to.”
“If this is about my stay here, it is pretty obvious that I won’t be leaving soon,” I stated.
“How long is it going to be until you think you can leave?” She asked me.
I rubbed my head. “Honestly? I don’t really know. I haven’t quite figured it out yet, this is the first time I’ve ever had my engines damaged so I’m kind of new to that. I also won’t really be getting any help from any of you since you don’t know anything either. Even if I do get my engines repaired my ftl drive is even more complex than that. I’m pretty sure I have the resources for the engines but not the ftl.”
Celestia looked at me puzzled. Yeah, if technology doesn’t exist here she wouldn’t understand anything I just said.
“Basically, I’m trapped here for who knows how long. I don’t even know where this planet is located,” I said before thinking. “I’d have to perform a scan. One moment.”
I walked over to the ship and climbed back inside. “A.I, scan for nearby planets.”
”Scanning for nearby planets.”
I walked over to the refrigerator where I grabbed a can of soda. I cracked it open and took a sip.
”No registered planets located.”
“Huh?” I said as I walked up to the console. No search results were coming up. “Widen scan.”
”No registered planets located.”
Okay, maybe space stations? “Scan for nearby civilizations.”
”No sapient life detected.”
“Okay seriously? What the hell?” I said out loud.
“Is everything going okay in there?” I heard Twilight shout from outside.
“No, Apparently This planet is nowhere near any other explored and registered space,” I explained.
“Registered space?”
“Yeah, apparently no one's been here before, I may be the first,” I clarified. “Hold on, I’m going to try and connect to the internet.”
”No connection found.”
“Hmm, Kind of weird but, Oh right! Extend connection to max,” I ordered.
“Signal being jammed.”
“Okay seriously? Is there some kind of mega nebula or something?”
Twilight peeped over the edge of the breach in the ceiling. “Mega nebula?”
“Yeah, Nebula’s can interfere with communication but generally don’t interfere the galactic network,” I explained. “The galactic network is very widespread but the nexus is quite powerful that I’ve never been disconnected.”
“What’s a galactic network?” She asked confused.
I sighed. Well, If there’s magic here, then there’s no way they would’ve developed the internet. Unless of course they developed something similar, but I doubt it.
“It’s going to take a while to explain and I don’t feel like doing it now,” I explained. “But basically, I have no Idea where I am, the sensors can’t tell me where I am and I have no connection to any other civilization.”
“Does that mean you’re trapped here?” Twilight asked concerned.
“Yeah, I’m stuck here, with a broken ship. Even If I do manage to fix it I don’t know where I am so I’d have to pick a direction and stick with it.” I sat down on my couch. “So yeah, I’m the only spacer here.”
“Spacer?”
“One’s who spend most of their time travelling in space. It’s more of a slang term.” I sighed.
Twilight noticed my sigh and sat down beside her. It was interesting how she sat, being quadrupedal and stuff. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I mean, obviously I was alone coming here, but sometimes I wonder If being alone was a good thing. There were a couple of times where I had an acquaintance with me. Losing them kind of has an effect,” I admitted.
She shuffled in her seat. “So, you don’t mind if I ask you how you lost them?”
I shrugged. “Like I said, I have mix emotions of my life. I’m good at what I do, but sometimes I wonder if it could’ve been better. My last friend died to Xephoes. We were scavenging a junkyard when they came by. They were the full deal, Thirty men, quite large for space pirates. I was not looking for trouble, Just wanted to grab some stuff and run. There’s some interesting things you can find lying around untendered. You know the saying ‘One person’s trash is another person’s treasure?’ right?” She nodded. “Yeah well, for me it was all money and it was there for me. However since it was a junkyard it also attracts other scavengers and pirates. Other scavengers you may get into conflict, but pirates you’re almost guaranteed. And these pirates were going to use anything including lethal force to get rid of opposition.”
Twilight gasped. “They were willing to kill you just over some junk?”
I nodded. “That’s how the Xephoes are, or at least how most of them are. You don’t see regular Xephoes around that much. Or, at this point the pirate one’s are the regulars. That’s also what separates Pirates from Scavengers. Scavengers like me don’t steal directly off others.”
Twilight shuddered. “They sound like Griffons.”
I nodded wondering if the griffons here were anything like the mythological Griffons. “So yeah, I’m not going to go into all the details, I sometimes hate to remember them, but the Xephoes did a big job on us and he didn’t make it out. But sometimes I wonder if he’s better where he is now, wherever the hell that is.”
“I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
“It’s alright. Feels kind of weird socialising with someone who I’m probably not going to see again.”
“What do you mean never going to see again? Are you saying that you’re leaving so soon?”
I stared at her for a moment. “I don’t belong here, maybe I should just get out of your faces.”
She seemed surprised at this. “Are you suggesting what I think… No wait, you don’t have to leave, you can stay here with us.”
I looked at her all surprised. “Are you inviting me to stay here? Are you sure I won’t be much of a burden? I mean, I’m literally an alien.”
She smiled at me. “Listen, Josh. You don’t have to leave just because you’re an alien. Ponies may seem a bit weary of you at first, but they should grow to accept you. Besides, You brought something we thought didn’t exist. Maybe Technology and magic can exist together.”
I was shocked. Was she really asking me to stay? “Well… I mean, I guess I could stay?”
At that moment a pink blur shot in front of me.
“Yay! Joshy’s here to stay!” Pinkie pie shouted hugging me hard causing me to fall off the couch.
“What the hell? How did she do that?” I asked getting up off the ground with a pony still wrapped around me.
“It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie,” Twilight exclaimed smiling. Pinkie was still wrapped around me and it was getting old quick.
“No seriously, and why is she still doing this?”
“Pinkie get off of him,” Twilight commanded with a half serious tone. Pinkie Obliged and hopped off me.
“I’m sorry! It’s just I thought he was going to leave without a welcome to Ponyville party!” She Apologised.
“He hasn’t been to Ponyville yet Pinkie,” Twilight pointed out. That’s a real simple name. I wonder if it was the first village created here.
“Oh! That means I need to throw him a welcome to Equestria party and then a welcome to Ponyville party right after that!” Pinkie Explained.
I turned to Twilight. “What’s with all the parties?”
“It’s just her thing,” She explained blandly.
“Huh.” I turned to Pinkie and put up one finger. “One party, that’s it. Not too big, just regular. You can call it a welcome in general party, but there’s only going to be one got it?”
Pinkie stared at me frozen. Does she even know the meaning of just one party? “Only one party?” she eventually whispered.
“That’s more than one party than I originally considered,” I explained.
Her eyes shot up. “Oh okay then! I got really lucky, one party it is!” She said before running off, hopefully not to to plan the party.
“So, ugh… Anything else you want to talk about?” I asked Twilight.
She smiled and her horn it up and a flash occurred. Hovering in front of her was a giant stack of paper. “We have lots to go through!”
Shit
Captain’s log, stardate, whatever the fuck does it matter?
Day 1
After nearly getting brutally murdered by Xephoes (Fuck those guys), I’ve appeared to of emergency jumped onto a pre technological world. Or at least the civilization I’ve met seems to represent it.
My ship is heavily damaged, there’s a hull breach in the ceiling, but luckily this planet has the right atmosphere to sustain me. I should be able to repair the hull breach. My thrusters and ftl drive are offline. It’s going to take me quite a while to repair them especially considering I don’t know if this planet has the resources. The locals will most likely not be able to help due to their lack of engineering skills of this degree.
After a couple small conflicts with the wildlife I met the locals who did not act hostile on site and in fact welcomed my existence despite me being an alien.
They appear to have a strange force they call magic. They literally call it magic, no other scientific term, it’s not slang, it’s literally called magic. They seem to reject or used to reject the existence of technology, stating that it was just a myth created to try and explain non magical circumstances. Well I seemed to prove them wrong. But their use of magic was also unexplainable to me. They proved me wrong too. Could it be that Technology and magic aren’t supposed to exist together? If so I must be really messing that up.
I am not able to track this planet’s location. The scanners will not detect any other registered life off this planet. I can’t even connect to the nexus. I am basically exiled at this point.
Finding out I was stranded, was not the easiest thing. Since I thought I didn’t belong here, I thought about simply killing myself. Not contaminate this planet with my existence. But the ponies didn’t want that. They accepted me, or at least the group that found me did. I’m not sure about the whole civilization.
This pony, her name is Twilight seemed to have quickly grown on me. She appears to be a scholar. Whether or not she generally likes me or just has a scientific view on me is unknown. I like to think it’s both, but she did just ask me a billion questions about me and the milky way which in turn resulted in her comparing everything to this planet.
Everything is going smoother than it should be. I thought I would be dead by now but it appears not. Seems a bit suspicious, but it’s only been around a day.
Wait, I forgot to say this. The Pink one, perfectly named Pinkie Pie wants to throw me a party. Not wanting to seem to mean I said yes, but only one. She seems so extroverted. I kind of regret saying yes now. I think this may be my last log.
To be honest, the dialogue still feels like a bunch of newspaper clippings slapped together, rather than a coherent work.
...primarily because the characters ping-pong between different moods so suddenly that it feels like they have no emotional investment in what they're saying. Real human and human-like minds have inertia. Our emotions and beliefs resist change.
Your Twilight's behaviour also feels especially wrong within the first two screenfuls ... are you sure she's not a Changeling who flunked out of infiltration?
Here's a particularly concise example:
That last line feels like it came out of nowhere. It actually reminds me of a moment in the Nostalgia Critic's review of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker.
You have trains, ovens, heavy machinery, rudimentary computers, and to top it all off books, yet you claim technology doesn't exist?
...Twilight is Skwisgaar confirmed.
8079444 Technology to them is magic to us. We see things that look like magic, but they're still technology. Ponies see the reverse.
But yeah, Twilight is totally Skwisgaar.
8079463 But that doesn't make sense considering that they do have technology, even if it's not quite as advanced as ours. Her saying technology doesn't exist isn't like us saying magic doesn't exist, because whereas we have absolutely no verifiable evidence of magic in our world, they use technology in addition to magic on a daily basis.
Also, just to emphasize my point from the previous comment... BOOKS are technically a form of technology. Twilight lives/lived in a library. Twilight loves books. Like, she reeeally loves books. No, seriously, I don't think you underst- okay, I'll stop now.
Not only that, but she owns an old-school computer (Feeling Pinkie Keen), she acknowledges the fact that not everything that happens is magic (Winter Wrap Up), and she also fancies herself something of a scientist (all the episodes).
8079586 you're kind of right. But would books be enough to make Technology valid?
8079625 It'd be enough to prove it's a thing. Although my point was more that the whole "technology doesn't exist" idea wouldn't make any sense even before he got there. It's so obvious that technology is a thing there that she should never have thought it wasn't in the first place.
Heck, you can literally point at some random thing in Ponyville and go "that's technology", thus my comparison to the clip from earlier.
8080112 That's kind of a good point. Twilight's whole life is Unicorn biased.
I'm thinking of rewriting the chapter to get rid of the idea that Technology never existed at all.
8080152 That's probably for the best, though you could probably just tone it down from "doesn't exist" to "is nowhere near that powerful". Because not only did she have a unicorn upbringing as you said, she also bears the Element of Magic, so she'd likely be skeptical of claims that something like intergalactic travel could be accomplished without using any magic at all.
*sigh* ...Fare the well Twisgaar.
8080175
You could always say that 'Technology' isn't the term they use for scientific discoveries, or the applications thereof. It's been used to describe something they consider mythical, and that the term might need to be 'reassigned' once they discover true technology. Twilight would agree with this explanation, I'm betting.
This was an overall pretty good story - it's a bit too violet for my usual cup of tea, but its written pretty well. Nice work!