> Intergalactic > by sectoid > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prologue The Sol System. The galaxy's El Dorado. Most races dismiss it as a myth, others believe that it went supernova centuries ago. It was said to have eight planets within it, a number that seemed impossible to most other races. One such planet was Earth, said to be a lush paradise with several climate zones and biomes. However, the legend also claimed Earth was inhabited by a race of incompetent, bipedal apes known as "humans." The humans were said to treat Earth so poorly, the Grox themselves would grimace. Pollution was rampant, the seas were full of sludge. Many civilizations conclude that this was when the humans died off, unable to live in the environment they created. Others point to the Grox as proof the humans could have survived. But neither of these factions did anything to prove their point. Nobody in recent years bothered to look for the Sol system to find out. However, two brothers had resolved to locate it... > Chapter 1: The Third Rock from Sol > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: The Third Rock from Sol In the depths of space, a lone star ship scoured the Orion Arm of the galaxy. Inside, two willosaurs, tripedal reptiles from the planet Tamaran, were scanning the stars for any sign of the legendary Sol System. One of the Willosaurs was hunched over a complex looking machine, presumably some sort of scientific instrument. He was also wearing a lab coat and glasses that were obviously designed for a being with only two eyes. The other occupant in the cabin was, of course, the pilot. He, unlike his bespectacled companion, wore absolutely nothing. He didn't need to. It was perfectly warm inside the ship, and he would only need clothing in cold environments. "Look, Glarp. I know I'm your brother, but was it really necessary to drag me into this?" the pilot said, still staring through the view screen. The scientist identified as Glarp looked up with an annoyed expression. "Because one, you're a skilled pilot; two, I don't need to pay you; and three, because I thought you would like the adventure of discovering a lost system," he replied dryly, putting a bit of emphasis on each number. His brother rolled his three eyes. Several hours later, a single blip sounded throughout the cabin. Glarp rushed to his comically large instrument and stared in awe. There on the screen was a single sentence: Unidentified star system, three parsecs away. Glarp whooped loudly, startling his brother out of a daydream. "This could be it, Teek! This could be it! The Sol System!" he cried, running to the view screen and pointing to a small yellow dwarf star in the distance. Teek looked skeptical. "It looks a bit small for a legend," he said, causing Glarp to glare at him. "Just fly to it, you fargn!" "Fine, fine! No need to shout at me!" he exclaimed. Before long, they were close enough to see eight planets in orbit around the star. "I knew it! We've found Sol!" Glarp cheered. Teek stared in disbelief. "But... That's impossible! No system in the galaxy has that many planets!" he murmured, but Glarp ignored him. As the ship drew nearer, Glarp saw that the third planet from Sol looked a bit too habitable. "Teek," he said, "fly closer to that planet there. Somebody seems to have given Earth a clean-up..." > Chapter 2: The Eagle has Landed > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: The Eagle has Landed "We should probably land on Earth's moon first. We can get readings on the environment without being noticed," Glarp said. Teek nodded, steering the craft towards the moon. Touching down on the desolate lunar surface, Teek activated the ship's scanners to see if Earth had an atmosphere that didn't require them to wear a suit. He hated space suits. They didn't have any in his size on the ship, and they often smelled worse than a Tamaranian Tick! The ship concluded that the atmosphere was breathable, with a varied climate. "Typical," Teek mumbled. Glarp stepped back into the cabin, now with a metal box strapped to his back. His tail pressed a button, causing two robotic arms to unfurl from the box. "Ah, I see the atmosphere is breathable," Glarp said, walking closer to the viewscreen. One of the mechanical arms pointed to a large forest clearing to the north. "This looks like a good landing site. Temperate climate, a river, and plenty of plant and animal specimens," he said with a nod. Teek looked eager for a change of scenery. "How soon do we leave? The desolate landscape on this rock is really depressing!" Teek whined. Glarp sighed. "Fine, I suppose we can go now," he said defeatedly. Teek happily obliged, and soon enough, they were speeding towards the planet. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy was fast asleep. It had been a long and exhausting day taking care of her animals. She had never even left the house that day! Who knew that making Angel a simple salad could be so hard? On top of that, Mr. Bear's chiropractic treatment had gone longer than expected, causing her to be late with the animal's supper, causing Angel to get quite annoyed with her, causing... Well, you get the idea. Suddenly, she was awoken by a large WHOOSH as loud as thunder! The animals went into a panic, forcing Fluttershy to get out of bed and calm them down. After the last animal had been consoled, Fluttershy wondered what could have possibly made such a loud noise. She decided to find out... > Chapter 3: Lifeforms > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3: Lifeforms As Fluttershy reached a clearing in the Everfree Forest, she saw a strange, saucer-shaped object. It was red with several portholes dotting the rim like some metallic ladybug. Four slender "legs" jutted out from the bottom of the object. Just as Fluttershy was about to run back to her cottage, she heard a twig snap behind her... --------------------------------------------------------------------- Glarp had been collecting plant specimens for the past twenty minutes, and had filled several jars with exotic looking plants. Things were going swimmingly until he heard a gasp of surprise and fear. He looked to his right and found himself just five feet away from a strange yellow equine. He froze. After five minutes of awkward silence, Glarp decided to make the first move. He discretely flipped a switch on his backpack, activating the automatic translator. The same kind of translator is found in a ship's SETI device. "Ummm... Hello?" he said uneasily. The creature's eyes rolled back in its head and it fainted. "Oh dear. This could complicate things..." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Teek, meanwhile, was still in the ship. He was lounging in the pilot's seat, waiting for Glarp's return. Suddenly, the comm screen rang. It was Glarp! "Yo, brother! What's taking you so long?" he asked. Glarp's worried visage faded in on the comm screen. "Um, brother... I'm not exactly sure how to say this, but..." he said. Teek frowned. "You said you were just collecting plants! How do you screw that up?!" he said incredulously, raising an eyebrow. Glarp shifted nervously on the screen, then turned the camera to show a yellow equine, passed out on the ground. Teek was shocked. He glared at the screen. "Glarp, you fargn! What in the name of Spode did you do?!" Glarp turned the camera back to him. "I'm going to take it to the med bay. If I leave it here, others may come and think we harmed it. We need to put our best foot forward here," Glarp said. Teek was about to object to this, but Glarp cut the transmission before he could say anything. A few minutes later, Glarp entered the ship with the strange creature on his back. Teek rushed to him. "Are you out of your mind?! That thing could have diseases that the galaxy has never seen before!" he cried. Glarp ignored him and took the creature to the medical bay. Laying the creature in a bed, he hooked it up to a heart monitor and sat nearby in case it woke up. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes. She immediately shut them when they were greeted by an extremely bright light. When her eyes grew accustomed to the light, she cautiously opened them again and examined her surroundings. She could hear a heart monitor beeping next to her, and she was in a very comfortable bed. Sitting up, she could see that she was in a white room with a blue tile floor. In the far corner of the room, she could see the frightful creature from earlier! It seemed to be looking at a screen, which, upon squinting, appeared to be her heart monitor. The beeping of the heart monitor became quicker as Fluttershy's heart pounded. What was it? Where did it come from? Was it taking care of her? If so, why? These questions filled her mind, and her heart hammered in panic. The creature took notice of the rapid beeping and looked towards her. Fluttershy could see in its eyes just as much panic as she felt, even a touch of concern. The creature calmly walked over to her bed, the look of concern never leaving its three eyes. As it drew nearer, Fluttershy could begin to discern its features. The creature's most outstanding feature was its three legs. The feet were clawed, like those on a dragon or other reptile. Its scaled body was green with orange stripes on top, with a tan underbelly. Its jaws were long, with two fangs poking out of each side. It had a long tail that ended in some sort of claw. A pair of what looked like antennae sprouted from the back of its head. The creature also appeared to have some sort of metal box strapped to its back. Fluttershy was paralyzed by mixed emotions. Half of her was panicking, while the other half was trying to reassure her. A voice snapped her out of her confusion. It was the creature! "Relax. I won't hurt you. I promise," it said with a soothing voice. Somehow, Fluttershy was calmed by its words. Her heart rate slowly returned to normal. "I'm sorry I frightened you in the forest. I was only collecting plant samples," it said, using its tail to gesture towards a shelf of jars containing various flowers and leaves. Fluttershy nodded. "W-Who are you? What are you?" she asked in her typical timid tone. The creature smiled. "My name is Glarp. I am a Willosaur. Would you mind if I asked your name?" "I... I'm Fluttershy..." she squeaked. Glarp raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?" "I'm Fluttershy..." "Erm, one more time, please?" Glarp asked, raising a single antenna. "I'm Fluttershy..." Fluttershy judged that the antennae must function as ears, since Glarp seemed to hear her this time. "Ah! Nice to meet you, Fluttershy," he said. "I've never heard of a Willosaur before," Futtershy said, "Are you from Equestria?" Glarp chuckled and shook his head. "No, I am not. You could say my brother and I are aliens." "Aliens?" "Indeed. My brother and I have been searching for this solar system for several months now. You see, the rest of the galaxy thinks of your planet as a myth." "Why do they think that?" "Oh, mostly because nobody could find it," Glarp laughed. By this time, the first rays of sunlight could be seen through the window. Fluttershy suddenly grew concerned. "I'm sorry, Glarp, but I really need to go now. My animals must be very worried about me..." she said. Glarp studied her for a moment before nodding. "You don't have any ill effects from fainting. I'll escort you out," he said. After watching Fluttershy head off into the forest, Glarp began to wonder what else was out there. Where, for example, did all the humans go off to? How did the planet get so clean in just one hundred thousand years? Surely there would still be some evidence of human civilization... Perhaps it was time for him to head into town and get the answers he needed...