Close Encounters

by Boredom Z

Chapter I: Arrival

Close Encounters
Chapter I: Arrival

The meteor shower truly was a beautiful sight. Twilight Sparkle stood wide-eyed as the beautiful lights streaked across the sky. It was all the more special that she was able to watch this spectacle with all of her friends. That is, of coarse, all of her friends except Spike, who was starting to dose off on her back.

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Meanwhile, on one of the many balconies of the royal castle in Canterlot, Princess Celestia sat next to her sister, enjoying the same sight as her student was watching.
“You have really outdone yourself, Luna. I never expected the meteor shower to be this beautiful,” the sun princess said in wonderment.
“Yes, well, it has been so long since Equestria’s last shower,” Princess Luna “I felt I needed to put everything I had into this one.”
“I was actually wondering how you do it?”
“It’s quite simple really, I just redirect a small meteorite towards Equestria, and gradually break it apart with magic before-“ Luna stopped as her ears perked up and she looked towards the shooting stars.
“What wrong?” Celestia asked.
“I don’t know, I thought there was something among all the debris I was controlling. Something moving of its own accord.” Luna frowned for a moment. Her sister looked down at her and chuckled.
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Luna. You probably let one piece stray. It’s understandable to make a mistake after being away from this for so long.”
“Hmm, I suppose your right,” Luna said.
At that, Celestia yawned. “I think I will take my leave for the night.”
“Goodnight Tia.”
“Goodnight Luna.”

Luna remained on the balcony for the remainder of the meteor shower. With the last streak across the sky, the Princess of the Moon gave a slight nod at her handiwork, and decided it was time for her to retreat to her bedchambers as well.

Had she remained on the balcony a moment longer, she would have noticed another streak, one that lasted longer than all the others. One that grew brighter as it refused to disintegrate in Equestria’s atmosphere. The rogue piece hurdled towards the ground, across Canterlot and Ponyville, over the Everfree Forest. The crash would have been devastating to the forest, had the object not been slowing down. Eventually the object stopped completely, hovering just above the tree canopy.

It moved silently above the trees until it came to a clearing at the base of a cliff several hundred feet high. The strange object slowly descended. As it did, several hatches opened on its bottom, and landing gears popped out and the object touched ground, letting out a dull groan as its weight was put on the gears.

Inside the spaceship, a lone occupant sat at a large control console, typing in a message on the computer monitor.

Shipboard date: March 18th, 2087, 6:21 pm

Passed by the single moon 3 hours ago. The descent was particularly exciting as a meteorite was breaking up against the planet’s atmosphere. It is good to see that the old girl can protect herself. I followed behind the vaporizing pieces and came to a stop above what appears to be a rainforest. I am excited to get started on my research, though in my haste to land I seem to have landed on the night side of the planet. I will wait until morning to begin my work. I will also have to remember to contact Command before I start. Until then I suppose I will just rest.

-Dr. Michael A. Zimmer

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It was a couple weeks after the meteor shower, and Spike was finally getting along with Owlowiscious. Twilight finally had some peace and quiet in the library, so she invited some friends over for tea. Rarity and Fluttershy were always pleasant for these kinds of get-togethers.
“So how have things been at the Boutique, Rarity?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, you know, business as usual I suppose, nothing really interesting to point out.”
“Mmmhmm, How about you Fluttershy?”
“Oh, umm…well there are some squirrels with tummy aches that I’m taking care of…so, um, there’s that.”
Twilight sighed deeply “Well, have either of you heard any gossip lately?”
“Ohh, Twilight, gossip isn’t very nice,” Fluttershy said.
“Yes but it can be a bit of fun, my dear,” Rarity replied. “Have either of you heard what the silly mail mare with the lazy eye has been saying since the meteor shower?”
“No, what has she been saying?” Twilight asked.
“Oh some nonsense about something falling out of the sky with the meteors. She claims that whatever it was, it didn’t stop burning like the other pieces, and that it fell into Everfree Forest.”
“Wait, that doesn’t make any sense though,” Twilight responded, “There would have been a massive impact.”
“That’s what I said when I first heard it, but apparently she said that the object began to darken and slow down as it reached the ground!”
“Okay, stop right there, I’m not going to listen to a made up story anymore. I don’t know what exactly it is that Ditzy saw, but obviously her eyes were playing tricks on her,” Twilight retorted. She looked down at her tea, finished it in a gulp, and then sighed. “Any other stories you two have heard?”
Both of Twilight’s friends shook their heads.
“Oh well, I suppose I’ll just do some shopping today and listen for any interesting stories.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the spa with me and Fluttershy?” Rarity asked.
“No, I need to restock on groceries anyway.”
“Okay then, have a nice day,” Rarity nodded before standing and walking out the door.
Fluttershy said her goodbyes and followed, leaving Twilight alone to make a short list of things to pick up. Noticing how low she now was on herbal tea, she decided to go buy some from Zecora first.
“Spike, I’m going out to run some errands, watch over the library while I’m gone.”
“Okay Twilight, see you later,” Spike called from the back room.
With that, Twilight was out the door to go visit her zebra friend.

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As Twilight walked up the dirt path that led to Zecora’s hut, she couldn’t help but feel that there was certain unsettling stillness to forest. Everfree was always such a wild and unpredictable place. But at the moment Twilight could hear no insects buzzing about, small critters scurrying around, or even any large monsters rumbling off in the distance. It was just she and the trees, and she had never felt more unnerved.

Twilight quickened her pace once she saw Zecora’s hut, curious to see if maybe one of the zebra’s potions were keeping the local fauna subdued. As she approached the hut, she noticed that the door was ajar, and that a basket of flowers and herbs were spilled on the front stoop.

Twilight stopped, now very nervous. “Zecora!” Twilight called. No answer came from the hut. The purple unicorn walked up to one of the hut’s windows and peered inside. Everything seemed to be in order. It was as if Zecora was stopped just before entering her own home. “Zecora!” Twilight called again, this time a bit more frantic.

Twilight perked up her ears as she heard a faint rustling in the bushes behind her. She turned and moved silently towards the noise. “Zecora, is that you?” the unicorn said silently. The air was completely still, and not a sound was in the air. Then Twilight heard a small groan come from the bushes. “Zecora!” Twilight yelled, rushing into the foliage. Just beyond the cover of leaves, wrapped in a net made of some shiny material lie the zebra.
“Oh Goddesses Zecora, what happened?” Twilight said, horrified.
Zecora turned, her eyes wide as she weakly spoke. “It is…too late…I am done. But you Twilight Sparkle…must…must…RUN!”
In the bushes nearby, something stirred. Twilight turned to face whatever it was.
“…Run…” Zecora muttered.
A creature emerged from the bushes, one that Twilight couldn’t identify. It stood on two legs like Spike, but stood more erect. It also had two arms; one had something attached to the end of it.
“…run…”

Before Twilight could react, the creature lifted its arm, and the attachment fired out a net that engulfed the unicorn, sending out a wave of electricity the second it touched her skin. Twilight’s muscles writhed and contorted painfully. The spasms only lasted a few seconds, but seemed much, much longer. When she stopped, sparks were still firing off of her horn uncontrollable, causing the unicorn to flinch.

She felt tired and groggy. Her vision was blurry, and she barely made out the creature moving towards her. Then everything went black.

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Shipboard date: April 2nd, 2087, 4:38 pm

The scientific research is currently on going. After extensive analysis the plants that reside in the surrounding areas, I can confirm that they are structurally and functionally similar to plants back home. Tests on atmospheric composition have been inconclusive, due to equipment malfunctions. As of now, I am still forced to wear a life-support suit for safety. I will try to fix the equipment over the next several weeks.

For now, I am collecting specimens of fauna, and what fauna there is! In my extended walks from base camp, I have come across a plethora of complex life forms. Ranging from what appear to be insects, all the way to gargantuan behemoths that remind me of monsters from myths and legends. Luckily the electric field is able to keep the more menacing beasts away. So far I have collected a number of specimens, though I have yet to get around to dissection. I would like to examine their behavior and external anatomy first.

I am quite interested in two specimens in particular. One has the appearance of a zebra, though the stripes are far more elaborate, and the snout is far shorter than a zebra from home. The second specimen is, and I can’t believe I’m typing this, a unicorn. At least that’s what it is in appearance. I am quite interested to see what its horn is used for. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until their sedatives wear off. Until then, I suppose I will start dissections on the less complex organisms. I’ll need to send the reports back to Command when I have finished.

-Dr. Michael A. Zimmer

Comments

[redskin122004]

Poor Twilight. And this fucking guy is dense as fuck. Clearly, there is a home there, indicating intelligence, but, like they say, sometimes the smarter the person is, the more out sync with their surrounding they are.

For an interstellar society, they sure do have terrible first-contact protocols. Unless they do have good protocols, and this guy is just an idiot. Though in that case, how the hell did he get the job of studying a newly-discovered life-rich world, much less earn the title of "Doctor"? Even if he didn't realize they were sapient, it's a terrible idea to immediately begin abducting and dissecting specimens when studying a new environment. There isn't actually much useful information to be gained from doing, and initial investigations would likely be much more effective if they focused on observation instead. Actually, now that I think about it, what IS the point of capturing and dissecting alien species willy-nilly? There doesn't seem to be anything to be gained from it, and contrary to some depictions in fiction, scientists don't actually collect, dissect, and otherwise experiment on specimens just for the hell of it.

Also, you'd think they'd send a probe first, instead of sending someone in pretty much completely blind. If they DID send a probe, how did it not pick up the signs of civilization? Ponies have cities, which SHOULD be quite visible from space at night. Heck, he should've noticed the signs as his ship came in for a landing. This guy seems rather incompetent. Either that, or he noticed but doesn't care, in which case he is an idiot for knowingly antagonizing an entire other race while he is on THEIR world. Command would probably not be happy to hear that he started a diplomatic incident, either.

Finally, for a civilization that has discovered technology advanced enough to allow for interstellar travel, is an electrified net REALLY the best way they have come up with to stun and capture living beings? Not only is that ridiculously primitive (for a theoretical interstellar society), but there is also a VERY good chance that a "taser net" could accidentally kill or seriously damage the specimen intended to be studied (especially if you don't already know at least a little bit about the specimen, such as what might be harmful/deadly to it).

Regardless of these issues, I will keep an eye on this story.

[PPFW Combo Breaker]

The story is pretty interesting so far, hoping the scientist will realise his mistake before he does something regrettable.
Keep watching the skies!

[SureFreeD]

Oh, please don't hurt Twilight!
Oh, please contiue this!
Oh, please rape them...no wait.

Oh shit! This can't be good! Hope you update soon!

[Meta Knight]

fantastic

[Boredom Z]

47923
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48141
Thank you for the criticism. Right now I'm still unsure how I am going to develop him as a character, though I have a few ideas now.

*is about to post*
It's not bad, mind you, but there are some issues. Well, first of a-

*sees both Heretical Zed's and "Too tired to be articulate"'s comments*
Yeah. That, basically. Also, unless they speak totally different languages, I find pretty weird the fact that he didn't hear them talking since he was so close. Or maybe I just forgot a few details after reading it.

By the way, I'm keeping an eye on this fic. =P

[Agai_Lazen]

48141

It's quite possible he denied that as a possibility considering the fact that ponies and zebras don't have poseble thumbs and therefore can't manipulate metal working without getting their tongues severely burned. If he starts examining her first and finds the tongue immune to heat and therefore burns, both of us will be proven wrong.

[redskin122004]

48252

Sorry Z, didn't mean to come off as ass-ish. Still the concept is different, a fresh view on something done before. Keep it up yeah?

Really interesting twist on HIE. Looking forward to seeing where this is going!