MLP: Technology is Magic

by Xarmar13

Nova and Tosh

Sophia strolled into the cryo storage chamber aboard the Aquaelie where anything that was to be cryogenically preserved was stored.

It was a dimly lit chamber with a number of cells that were large enough to fit people and that was what most of the cells contained. While some were frozen as a form of punishment for some past crime, there were also some cells where Sophia kept those who have served her well preserved until a later time when she would need their skills again. These people volunteered, of course. Though she was also disappointed that some of the crew used some of the cells like they were freezers to store their food until they felt like eating it later. She would need to talk to them about that at some point.

Regardless, her attention was drawn to two individuals who had served her well in the past, though one of them also made a nuisance of himself a few times.

Accessing a terminal, Sophia activated the two cells that she wanted and peered inside the windows. One was a human female with blonde hair done in a ponytail and, from what she remembered since her eyes were closed, green eyes. She wore a sleek gray suit with thin armor plating. The other was a human male with dark skin and black hair done in dreadlocks and milky white eyes. He wore a black suit with slightly thicker armor plating than the other.

Satisfied with her selection, Sophia began the process of activating the two cells to release the two occupants from their stasis. The process of thawing the two took a few minutes plus a few more for the two to regain cognizance after being frozen for so long.

The female was the first to speak, “W-where are we? How long have I been frozen?”

“Hello Nova Terra and Gabriel Tosh,” Sophia greeted. “You are currently aboard the SFS Aquaelie holding orbit over a planet that we will be investigating once you two have recovered from your cryo hibernation.”

Sophia led Nova and Tosh to a cabin and let them recover, offering cryo-stim supplements to speed their recovery. The drugs shortened their recovery time to a couple of hours before they were mentally ready for their briefing.

The briefing took a few minutes where Sophia went over the information they had gained from the planet they were orbiting. “I am also informing you that this mission may be a long term one and will be the last one before I hand you two your retirement papers.”

“With all due respect, hierarch, I still have plenty of years in me to serve,” Nova protested.

“Heh, a workaholic as ever, woman,” Tosh pointed out.

“At least I didn’t waste most of my career being a scummy pirate!” Nova snapped.

“Don’t start, you two,” Sophia admonished. “My word on this is final, so I suggest you get used to the idea. Who knows, maybe you will find something to catch your interest there. Anyways, I am not expecting significant hostilities yet, especially from the natives. Though we might have others show up at some point.”

“I doubt we have anything to fear from something out of a little girl’s fantasy,” Tosh remarked.

“Regardless, I want to see what we have to work with before I formulate my plans to uplift these creatures. We are going incognito using the genetic morpher. The observers have already scanned the DNA of the various species of the world and I have chosen templates for both of you.”

“Wait, we are going in looking like the natives?” Nova questioned. “You mentioned that they were quadrupeds, but I’ve never fought with an altered center of gravity before and I doubt Tosh has either.”

Tosh shrugged, “It’s true, but I have been known to adapt. I wonder if you are even capable of doing the same given how inflexible you tend to be.”

“Let’s get going,” Sophia interrupted, heading off another argument.

The two agents remained quiet as they made the trip to another room where they figured that they would be transformed into the natives for the mission. Sophia explained that the morpher would transform them and send them down to the surface as long as there was a warp conduit there. Thankfully, one of the observers planted a crystal shard at the intended transport location.

Sophia’s transport system relied on her special crystals which she would plant in strategic locations. By putting a little of her psionic power into a shard, she would be able to nearly instantaneously travel to another shard. These crystals acted as her warp conduits and took her centuries to master it to the extent that she would only need a tiny shard at point A and point B. Until then, it took her an entire crystal formation to properly travel.

Once the three of them were ready for the process, they entered a small chamber as the process started up. A minute of wait was all that was needed for the three of them to be exposed to a blinding light. They closed their eyes and used their arms to block as much of the light as they could. Sophia held up one of her shards as the system reacted to it.

Everything happened within a few seconds. When they lowered their arms, or rather their forelegs, they soon found themselves in a meadow just outside of a dark forest.

As soon as her vision recovered, Nova took the time to gaze upon her hooves, sky blue in color. She found that she could twist her body enough that she could look upon her flank. The image of a familiar skull-shaped mask, like the ones Ghost agents were known to wear, was engraved onto her flank. Her tail looked platinum blonde.

She also noticed something that was missing which immediately made her feel self-conscious. “Wait, where is my suit? Why am I naked?!”

“Relax Nova, from what I could tell from investigating the natives, clothing is optional. You will fit in without your suit. As for where it is, I had your suit placed in a dimensional storage until it’s needed.”

Nova looked around to find Sophia which took her a few seconds until she looked down. Her already large eyes widened while her pupils shrank as she looked at her leader.

She was looking at a rabbit in her feral state. The only unusual thing that would set her apart from other known species of rabbits was the fact that her fur was blue. She also had a white nose and her eyes were amber. Sophia was now half Nova’s size which did make her slightly larger than the average rabbit.

“So how come I was allowed to keep my suit?” Tosh asked. Nova looked at her counterpart and spotted a male equine who had a light gray coat with dark gray stripes around his head. The rest of his body was covered by the equine version of his armor. His dreadlocks were now draped down to the base of his neck. “And why are you a small animal?”

“First, since I didn’t want to complicate things, I turned Nova into one of the wingless and hornless variants. As your bodies acclimate to the environment, I’d like a report on what changes you experience. I turned Tosh into a zebra because I don’t have a lot of data on their kind and I’d like to know what they can do. Second, I wanted the rabbit look because I love selling the adorable but deadly look. It tricks my prey into thinking I’m prey up until they find out I’m higher up on the food chain than they are. Third, I want Tosh to remain in stealth until further notice. Since he’s a zebra and their kind hasn't been seen on this continent, I don’t want to take chances until I can understand why that’s the case.”

“So what’s our mission?” Nova asked.

“We’re still investigating the natives so I want you two to investigate the culture around here. See what you can learn about the characteristics of the various types of natives and how they use the energy of this world. Tosh will be studying remotely while Nova will be trying to mingle with the natives. The nearby town should work for this.”

“And what about you, little rabbit?” Tosh asked, a bit of teasing in his voice.

Sophia didn’t rise to the bait, “I need to explore the lands and set up conduits in places that might be necessary to visit later. After that I plan to learn what I can about the high energy source.”

Sophia lingered to watch in amusement as she saw Nova try to walk away only to trip and fall on her face. “Ow! How do these creatures walk like this?”

“I can’t really help you there, that’s something you will have to learn for yourself. Though I’d advise you to learn before you two are discovered by the natives. I’d rather not let on that we are not from around here too soon.”

Sophia stayed to watch Nova and Tosh struggle to learn how to walk on four legs. The rabbit had no problems moving normally since she had spent time in quadruped forms, including the zergling which kind of moved like a rabbit. Of course, she found that she could give the two some advice on how to move which helped to speed up the learning process.

The three were at it for several hours as Nova and Tosh worked to build muscle memory that would aid them in learning how to walk. However, learning how to trot, canter and gallop would require more practice and they needed to get the mission underway.

Once they were able to walk around without making fools of themselves Sophia bid the two farewell before she raced off at a speed just below what was needed to break the sound barrier since she didn’t want to be causing damage through sonic booms.

Nova and Tosh glanced at one another before the latter gave an amused smirk that made the earth pony glare at him in annoyance. The zebra activated his suit’s personal cloaking while Nova figured that he was moving toward the town.

Sighing in resignation, Nova began walking toward the nearby town as she tried to prepare herself for something her ghost training had never prepared her for…

Socializing.

Author's Note:

For those who question the way I used cryogenics as a means of making sure people live for thousands of years please remember that this is a sci-fi story and for the case of this story cryo stasis will keep the subject in perfect stasis. I really don't want my writing to slow down because of scientific research nor do I want to throw Nova and Tosh out of the story because scientific facts would make it nearly impossible for them to survive for centuries.

Comments

[Black--Soul]

Make me wonder how a assassin with probably decayed social skills with do in a alien culture.
Shenanigans incoming