Launching!

“Are the gauges appearing correctly?” a voice from the nearby speaker box said. “And is the button flashing green?”

“Yes it is,” the pony behind the dashboard spoke. “And stop making me nervous; it’s making me think that I’m going to die.”

“Well you are if you wouldn’t stop postponing the damn launch Shanghai,” the voice joked.

Shanghai had a great day so far, if it weren’t that he had to go into space. Currently, his mission was to explore a sinister black hole. Although the scientists say nay, many wanted to know what became of one whenever they went into the comic object. So, the deal was that Shanghai had to travel almost two weeks and a half to get to the nearest black hole, with most of the time in a type of stasis. Not to forget that with enough food, oxygen, supplies, and a couple of durable solar/plasma weapons; he’d nearly survive any situation that came from the hole.

“Come on Shanghai! You’re an alicorn! You’re supposed to be the most adventurous people of the world,” The voice box yelled. “Oh and by the way, if it makes you feel any better, the unicorns are the most nerdish and stupid.” An audible ‘hey’ was heard.

The yellow alicorn laughed. “Just because I like to go into space doesn’t mean I’m adventurous. It just means I like space Minerva.”

“And every time you survive the re-entry!” She said. “That takes guts, and a fuckton of luck you gobshite! You better be grateful that the gods have given you such luck!”

“How long is it until I actually launch?” Shanghai moved his foreleg armor up to reveal a Mickey Mouse watch.

A small, holographic screen appeared on the dashboard; it mentioned that he was supposed to launch about ten minutes from now. But with the supplies and the inspection already done, what’s holding him back?

“What’s the problem?” he tapped a few keys on the board. “I see everything is in shape, and the supplies already loaded. The outer field is cleared, no dangerous levels of radiation are absorbed yet, sky is clear of pegasi, alicorns, and aircraft; so why am I still here?”

A pause happened, and soon, another feminine voice came onto the com. “Shanty! I’m so sorry! I hope I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“It is okay mother,” Shanghai rubbed his face, trying to remove the embarrassment of his nickname. “You didn’t anything wrong, just hoping that I had a chance to say goodbye to some of my family,” He lied.

“Oh dear, I wish you a good time! Your girlfriend is here to say hi.”

The alicorn’s eyes widened, and tried to turn off the intercom; but unfortunately, it only worked when the speaker on the other side didn’t have the microphone mutton pressed.

“Hey, how are you?” a younger voice spoke.

“I’m ok,” he tried to keep his composure, but it just wasn’t working right. “I hope you miss me when I’m gone Rubenesque. I would hate to keep you waiting.”

“Well, I wish we had more of a connection,” she replied.

“What do you mean?” Shanghai paused, confused about the change in subject.

“I hate to do this you, but I think we need to break up. I cannot stand long-distance relationships,” Rubenesque said. “Besides, there’s a chance of you dying. I wish I had something for your broken heart, but to be honest, you were always too busy with your work to be with me. So I don’t know much about you to help you feel better about this. I’m sorry; you’ll probably find someone better later on. Maybe a griffon, human, an anthropic animal, or even another alicorn; I really don’t care, but you’ll find someone better.”

“Wait! I have an idea that-“ He was cut off by the sound of the microphone suddenly turning off.

Shanghai slumped in his chair, and removed himself from it. As refrigerator nearby to seat rose from the floor, and popped out a Monster energy drink, still popular since radiation couldn’t affect it. “Would you like to have a different selection?” it said in a robotic, feminine voice.

“No,” the alicorn used his magic to open the can.

The microphone clicked back on. “Hey, I’m sorry about that. But I’m pretty sure you can find better.”

Shanghai took a swig from the can, placed himself back on the chair, and sighed. “She is now my fifteenth ex, and apparently, everyone I find happens to not like me for some odd reason.”

“Hey, at least she wasn’t as bad as your tenth.”

The alicorn laughed. “It wasn’t my fault that he decided to try bondage, and then had to leave because his cat escaped. I stayed there for at least thirteen hours.”

“Why couldn’t you’ve just escaped using magic?”

He looked at his horn, and then to his hooves. “I… I didn’t think of that at the time,” he mentally slapped himself.

“The things I don’t understand is, how in the hell did they get you in the program, and how did you ever pass the tests?” The intercom said.

“I have no idea…” He pressed a button to let the ship prepare a cryogenic capsule for his long voyage; he would need it in the near future. Shanghai then took stock of his supplies via the computer interface, and checked up on the plants that were growing in the next room over with a camera. Finally, he stretched his hind legs, and placed them on the dashboard. If ten minutes was all that he had now, might as take a quick nap.

L 058

At first, there was darkness. Weightlessness took over his body, giving a light queasy feeling, a familiar feeling Shanghai remembered when he first rode a classic entertainment device named ‘a roller coaster’. The young alicorn saw, in the corner of his eye, a faint twinkle of light. Shanghai turned his head towards to flickering source and watched as the star made out a sort of obsolete system named Morse Code.

Suddenly, as if activated by magic, the darkness lit up with millions, if not billions, of stars of different colors and sizes. The alicorn looked in awe, and reached towards the nearest one; a light blue orb no larger than a marble. He touched it and watched as it slowly grew more than triple its size, showing detail of every eroded mountain, lakes both dried and irradiated, and civilizations bustling with technology that was Earth’s. Shanghai watched as several pegasi roamed the high atmosphere and moved clouds.

A beeping sound behind him caught his attention. The alicorn turned his head and saw the moon orbiting the planet, with an antenna poking out of the side. Shanghai smiled at the tiny satellite and poked it.

It wasn’t until that the moon was drifting away that he noticed he just done damage to the home planet behind him. The alicorn looked back at Earth and saw that it disappeared; and so did the most of the stars around him. No longer familiar with the constellations of the stars around him—even with all the studies in cosmos—Shanghai grew slightly worried. He looked around, and found another planet similar to Earth’s orb color. With a flap of his wings, he slowly drifted to the planet and poked it. Seeing how nothing happened, he then squinted to try and take a closer look at the planet.

At least, until a loud beeping noise woke him up from his nap.

“Shanghai! What the fuck?” the intercom yelled at him, jolting him wide-awake. “You have half a minute to launch and you’re sleeping?”

The alicorn quickly chugged the rest of the energy drink, and placed a dull bronze helmet on his head, covering the sides of his face and forehead, giving a Roman soldier look to his head. The dashboard flashed a notification on the hologram interface, asking for confirmation for launch. Shanghai reached for the yes selection, and then the notification vanished.

“Are you ready?” Minerva confirmed.

“Yea,” Shanghai threw the can into a nearby trashcan duct taped to the floor—which lead to the plasma incinerator, where it’ll get recycled and used for repairing the ship. “Minerva, think you can tell my co-workers I said, ‘stay awesome’?”

“If that includes me you jerk, then yes.” She giggled.

“Coolio, I guess I got to wait for the countdown now,” Using magic, he tightened the straps holding him to his seat and switched the AI feature on. It’ll take a while for it to boot up to its max power, it’s just ‘waking up’ from its slumber. At least the AI was the best it was, there was no need to upgrade.

The logic of the AI was based on the classic video game series Halo — and also the structure of many ship designs, current plasma/solar weapons, and even the soldiers. The ‘Mjolner’ and ‘Elite’ combat suits are not perfected — it’s at version 2.4 alpha — at the moment, but its tech is roughly the same, including the cloaking device. Wearing them was tough, but Shanghai quickly adjusted to the half-ton suit. The suit was dull bronze colored and even though most people picked the ‘Mjolner’ suit, the alicorn decided that the ‘Covenant Elite’ was better suited for him. He could’ve picked the ‘ODST’ suits, but it was the color choices that killed the decision.

A male voice boomed into the cockpit of the ship, “Starting launch, in 3,

“2…

“1…

“Launching codes activated, now go out into space Shanghai! And may the luck of the gods be with you.”

The alicorn chuckled, and then sat back as the ship Dragon’s Breath lurched forward, and into the bright blue sky.

After minutes that felt like hours of nothing but vigorous shaking, it finally stopped when it had reached the starry, black heavens, also known as space. If his parents could see him now, no wait, they’re probably watching the holotape program right now!

Shanghai gasped, no matter how many times he went into space, even on simulations and shadowing astronauts, it still struck a chord into his heart. If there ever was a queen of the stars, he would try and possibly marry her — if he felt like it.

The ship suddenly jerked, and then the dashboard flared with light, telling him it was time to move. At first the lights went out, and then the cockpit was suddenly filled with a dim light; just barely enough to be able to see the controls. A blue light flickered next to him, revealing an AI appeared on a stand to his left; and she was as beautiful as a human can be. Dressed in classic Greek robes, the entire ensemble was white with a golden belt around her slim waist; her brown hair was surrounding her in such a voluptuous way, that it looked like water. The colored AI’s radiating, olive skin barely hiding the deep red color of her cheeks, brown eyes matching the hair color, and the long, skinny fingers grasping a small tablet in her arms, as if she were writing on it.

“Hey there Cytherea, think you can hand me another can of Monster?” Shanghai asked.

“No need to be so formal,” she replied, snapping her fingers, causing the tablet to disappear. “I’m now going to be with you for a while, and while we’re at it, I’m going to declare us friends. Besides, I’ve seen you naked.”

His eyes widened, and the slowly turned his away from the AI, and placed his eyes to the dashboard.

“Oh I’m just joking with you,” Cytherea said while she ordered the refrigerator to hand him the 24 oz. can.

“Yea,” He grabbed it, opened the large can, and took a chug. “Think you can turn this ship towards the black hole I’m supposed to suicide myself into?”

“Please, I could do that in my standby mode,” she cracked her virtual knuckles and neck. “Now watch the master take control.”

Cytherea then made Dragon’s Breath shifted the command into autopilot and turned the ship port-wise. Shanghai watched as the stars that were in front of his turn towards the right, and prepared for the upcoming message.

“Before we go into Slipspace,” the AI started. “I need you to head to your cryogenic tube. I’ll awake you whenever you’re needed.”

He unstrapped himself, and then walked towards the doors, leading to the plant room. Once opening, he caught a whiff of dandelions, petunias, fresh grass, roses, and even mint leaves. Shanghai stopped at the grass, and decided that it was time to eat a few of the herbaceous plants. He munched slowly, taking in the delicate flavors. But, the mood was killed by a fellow member of the two-person crew.

“Hey!” an intercom nearby yelled. “When you’re done eating, can you at least head to the tube before you end up having to use the restroom before we go into Slipspace?”

“Yes mother,” he mocked.

“If you keep acting like that, I will become your mother.”

The alicorn gulped and then walked towards a second set of doors, which opened up to a small hallway between many doors. It was a medium sized ship, but it was big enough to be classified as a suburban house if needed. With the special titanium coated with non-rusting enamel, it could withstand any natural disaster.

He reached the door to the room lettered ‘Bed and Cryogenic room’. The doors opened with a soft hiss, showing a king-sized bed, and the cryogenic tube next to it. With the artificial gravity, the bed could never float away. Shanghai then pressed a couple of buttons on the tube and watched as it slowly opened up with nitrogen gas leaking to the ground, making the floor colder than normal.
“I think I need to pee,” the alicorn nervously backed away from the tube.
“Dammit!” Cytherea snapped. “I knew in a way you were scared of this. Trust me when I say this, it’ll be just like sleeping, except you have lucid dreams instead of normal crazy dreams. And yes, I can actually know what you’re dreaming. It’s not hard to do because of brain functions and…” she was slowly tuned out by Shanghai.
He stepped into the tube and made himself comfortable, Shanghai also had his can with him, but it was just getting to be frozen from the nitrogen gas. He relaxed his eyes, and focused on sleeping for the remainder of the time he’s going to be on there.
Cytherea, finally noticing he was sleeping, closed the tube, and set it to manual awakening. She then went to the cockpit, and started to adjust the coordinates for the Slipspace. Once everything was in place, the AI set Breath to be launched towards the black hole.
The scientists said that it would take weeks, but Cytherea knew that it would only be just a couple of days with the shortcut she was taking. Of course it would require setting the engines to one-hundred and ten percent, a dangerous move, but they would be able to reach it. With the solar power they were using, it wouldn’t take too much time to recharge.
Cytherea looked on the radar and found several shaped entities several miles away; ship-like by her assumptions. “Don’t want to be a part of whatever’s going on there,” She trailed off.
The stars slowly appeared longer and thinner as the ship was starting to launch itself into Slipspace. A loud groan came from the engines, and suddenly, they vanished without a trace from where they just were.

C 259

Luna jumped awake, and looked around her room. Nothing was different from the norm, and with the sunlight still coming into the window, she assumed it was just another bad dream that she had accidentally formed. It was uncommon, but it happened from time to time.

The alicorn got out of her bed, and placed her royal tiara, boots, and necklace on. She then walked to the door and was going to open it, until her beamy sister slammed the door open, making Luna crash into the door.

“I’m sorry Luna!” Celestia scrambled to the night princess’ side. “But I’ve just felt a weird presence and I also think it’s about that time.”

“What time is that dear sister?” she replied, rubbing her sore muzzle.

“Project Manehatten,” Celestia gave a desperate stare.

“You mean the one where we go and take over the Griffon Kingdom?”

“No, that’s Project Birdy.”

“The one where we force all the creatures to bow to us?”

“That was just a joke Luna,” Celestia giggled.

“Oh! Was it the one where we reanimate the dead?”

“That’s Project Z, and we might need to possibly do that, just for the shits and giggles.”

“But sister! It’s all shits and giggles until somepony giggles and shits! What are we going to do then?” Luna sat on her bed, unable to hold her child-like giggles. “Besides, what was the project where we have to start getting better stuff?

“That’s Project Manehatten!” Celestia hugged her.

“Is it?” Luna gasped for air, but couldn’t find any. Before she went unconscious, Celestia let go, and then started leave the room. “Wait sister! Where are we going to get the materials?”

That stopped the sun goddess. She then slowly turned around, and her lips slowly formed into a grin. “I don’t know! But I bet it’ll be here soon hopefully!“

Luna facehoofed, and then trotted next to Celestia’s side, “Well, since we’re awake, we better get a nice cup of tea. How does black tea sound today?”

“Nay, how about Earl Grey?” Celestia said.

Luna scowled. “I hate the bitter taste of that, chamomile?”

“Even though I’ve had it millions of times, I’m going to say sure,” Celestia then flared her horn to teleport both of the alicorns to the private tea room. She looked at the clock once she had found a decent spot to sit, it said five.

“It was about that time for tea anyways,” Celestia muttered while she conjured a tea set.

“So tell me about this presence you’ve felt,” Luna said while pouring herself a cup of the relaxing elixir.

Celestia pondered, “Well, you know that feeling of when you know something is there, but it’s not?”

Luna nodded, “I get that quite a lot ‘Tia, it’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

She shook her head, “No, that not what I meant! What I’m trying to say is that, you know how there’s a pony nearby and you could sense their aura?” Luna nodded. “Well I’m feeling that, but the magical aura is quite faint. I know all the auras of all the ponies in this country and of all animals too, but this, this one aura is new. It’s completely alien for me.”

“What are you going to do about it sister?” Luna asked.

“Nothing, I cannot find out where it’s from, but all I can say, the aura feels familiar to Starswirl the Bearded.”

“Could it be…?” Luna trailed off.

“I highly doubt it; it could be another unicorn from the unknown lands coming through the country.” Celestia concluded. “Anyways, tell me, can you teach me how to lucid dream?”

“Of course I can sister,” Luna announced. “Decided that it was boring to have normal dreams?” Celestia nodded. “Then the first thing you must do is…”

6 - 321

Dragon’s Breath suddenly came out from Slipspace. Slowly, but surely, it orbited a planet that seemed to resemble Earth, with an atmosphere similar to the planet. The AI ran a full scan of the area around them. A beep appeared on the radar, a large entity made up of unfathomable power.

Cytherea let out a long sigh. This was easy. Now, it was time to actually head to main objective, which was to go kamikaze into a black hole. She figured it was about time to wake up the alicorn from his slumber, so he could actually see what a black hole looks like.

Cytherea ‘walked’ from the cockpit, past the plant room, and finally into cryogenic room. She turned off the nitrogen gas, and turned off the sleep stabilizer. After a minute, the AI slowly opened the door to the tube. Sitting there was the alicorn she had sworn to take care of, and be a friend to.

A dull bright light filled Shanghai’s vision as he started to choke on the slime in his lungs and throat.

“Sit up Shanghai.” Cytherea said. “Sit up, breathe deeply, and cough. You need to get the bronchial surfactant cleared. “

Shanghai slowly climbed out, with wisps of fog flowing out of the tube. Clumsily, he sat on the bed and tried to inhale. Instead, he doubled over, coughing until a long stream of liquid flowed from his mouth. He then sat up, and took the first breath he ever had in a couple of days. Shanghai wet his lips, and almost gagged from the taste of the cryo inhalant. It was meant to feed him the nutrients that were lost in the deep sleep. But, the taste from the inhalant was a bad-flavor; more like mucus and lemons mixed together that was diluted with flat, irradiated Mountain Dew.

“Tell me I don’t have to do that again. What’s the problem?”

“Fortunately, you don’t have to,” the AI replied. “But what you need to do is go to the cockpit and take over. Your piloting skills are needed, there’s only so much that I can do.”

Shanghai coughed again, “Got it, now if you’ll excuse me, I need to wash up and use the restroom.”

Shanghai replaced that last of his foreleg armour back on, and sat down in his chair, taking note of the current situation. “How much longer until we gamble our lives for the better?”

“Approximately fourteen more minutes,” she replied.

The black hole was clearly visible and it obviously yelled out danger. But Shanghai wasn’t backing down just yet, he just wanted to find out if he would be able to live, if not; well, let’s just keep it at if he lives.

“It’s been a pleasure just meeting you for about an hour Cytherea,” the alicorn said.

“Hey, I’ve talked to you in your sleep,” she jested.

“That was you?”

“Yup,” she appeared on the dashboard. “We are about ten minutes until closing in.”

Shanghai stared at the looming, sinister cosmic object. For about a minute, he thought it was moving towards him, considering how fast the ship was moving towards it. For a half minute, he imagined that it whispered tales of paradise. For a second, the naive alicorn thought he could blow it up with specialized missiles in case of hostile aliens. Shanghai thought he just forget this mission and just live on another planet, maybe the one behind him.

But the black hole didn’t change, it didn’t say those words, it couldn’t be blown up by proton missiles; it just sat there, sucking up all life and light, leaving nothing but a dark mass in the starry night of Earth, and many planets nearby.

“Five minutes until we reach the outskirts of the black hole,” the AI stated.

But yet, it was one of those stars; it was an atomic gas object that shot off light; it was beauty in the stars. But now, it’s nothing but a gravity defying object in space.

“Two and a half minutes until impact.”

Shanghai loathed the fact that it was once a happy sun to the planets nearby it; happy to live; happy to give out light; but later, it had corrupted into darkness.

“One minute.”

He sighed, if he survived this; he would be more than happy to not let a sun become corrupt rather than for it to turn into a dark mass.

“Thirty seconds.”

The mysterious black hole was closer than ever, it was too late to change his mind. Now, he didn’t care if death wanted to claim him. Shanghai just hoped that whatever happens to him, that at least he could die with a friend, even though it was an AI. He chuckled lightly at the idea.

“Ten seconds. Shanghai, if we don’t make it…” she trailed off.

“Oh we’ll make it,” he calmly said with determination.

Dragon’s Breath started shaking, “Turn off the engines!” He yelled, hoping the violent quake would stop.

Fortunately, the shaking did stop as the engines did nearly at same time. The equine watched as the light around the dark mass quickly turned into a straight line, making a light outline through the diameter. Slowly, the mass was ever growing bigger, like a burning hole in a piece of paper. Soon, it got as big as to cover the entire window of the front of the ship.

“One last thing, tell the next person we see is possible that I said hi,” Shanghai spoke, clutching the arm rests as tight as he can.

Suddenly, the ship shook violently, sending things flying around the room. Then suddenly the alicorn’s vision went black as he felt a cold and metallic object hit his unprotected head.

Living a half-life

View Online

A cold wind blew by in the dark— smelling of nothing but death and emptiness. The black shadows stretched for what seemed to be forever, with nothing visible—not even a hint of light. A grey alicorn dressed in a black pinstripe suit appeared holding a lantern, lighting nothing, and walking on nothing. The alicorn then placed a fedora on his head and continued with his lonesome walk. He stopped, and a door opened revealing light on the other side. He grinned and walked into it. The passageway closed behind him as he walked down a dark grey hallway. The alicorn looked to his left, and found a door labeled ‘Shanghai’. He smiled even wider— revealing his sharp fangs and a purple, forked tongue—and opened the door. He entered the room, and was instantly teleported to a floating, fiery spaceship. Nothing moved as thought everything was frozen, and there was no noise to be heard.

The grey alicorn walked into the front, and ghosted through the windows. The yellow alicorn sat in a chair clearly tattered and injured. With a smile, he touched the pony and he instantly breathed. With a scream, the alicorn struggled and tried to release himself from whatever pain he suffering.

“Hush now mortal,” the grey one spoke with calming, yet disturbing tone. The pony stopped, and stared at him. “You must listen to me, but do not tell of anyone of this.” He nodded. “Good; my name is Garry, but everyone calls me G—well, everyone that’s living. Now I must say that you are in a very, very unpleasant situation. As you can see, the chances of you living in this are next to zero, but I shall give you two options. Are you ready?” The yellow alicorn nodded again and winced at the pain in his neck. “Option one; first, you will live and be sent to a world named Equ in a country named Equestria, where ponies are the dominate species. Civil war occurred two years ago, so they need someone to be a new, upcoming leader in this ever growing country.

Secondly, I need you to start the country in a new era. I don’t mean to destroy the land and become an emperor like the dynasties back at your home,” G chuckled. “I want you to start a mechanical and electronic time—the Technical Era. Third, I want you specifically because only you were available to do this duty, failure to do these orders I’ve given you will automatically turn into option two; death and nothing will ever be remembered of you. Your soul will belong to me and you’ll never be re-incarnated by your gods. Do I make myself clear?” The yellow alicorn nodded. “Good, now that I’ve told you what to do, you’ll be returned to your situation but you’ll be transferred to be sent to Equ.” The grey alicorn turned to leave, but paused. “See you next time, I guarantee it when your hour comes. You won’t remember this conversation, but you will remember this one phrase; ‘Prepare for unforeseen consequences’.” The grey alicorn opened a doorway leading to a bright light and walked into it, leaving a very tired pony.

The doorway closed, shutting out all of Shanghai’s vision.

(#101)

A zebra placed a river cane pole on its flat end, making it stand vertically. She then jumped on top of the pole, and stood steady with her back hooves covering the small surface on the opposite end. Without shaking, she then swapped her back hoof for her foreleg. The zebra wobbled, but quickly straightened herself as she prepared to swap to her head. Satisfied with her progress, the zebra then lowered her head to the butt of the pole. As quick as lightning, she suddenly was balancing on the top of her head and was holding still.

The zebra smiled, and meditated. In her mind, a vast open meadow had appeared, covered with tall grasses and scattered trees. A feeling of calm washed over the zebra as she had planted herself within the dream. She looked around for a village of some sort, but was disappointed by seeing nothing other than the meadow before her.

The zebra looked up into the open, blue sky and with a whisper; wings sprouted from her back and took her straight up into the atmosphere. She stopped when she reached her desired height, and soared. Like a vulture, she flapped her wings in a rhythmic pattern. “It’s such a perfect dream,” she whispered. “Never thought the sky could be so blue; father, I don’t mind if I did not have someone like you.” She whispered to herself with a wistful sigh.

Suddenly, a rumbling, deafening roar from outside of her dream jolted her out of her concentration. She lost balance and fell to her side. The pole clanked on the ground, and rolled away as the zebra tried to find support to pick herself up. She saw a broadsword laying down next her, and used it as a staff. She stood and rushed to get outside to find the source of the sound. The zebra opened the door to find a purple alicorn standing in the doorway.

“Zecora!” the alicorn yelled over the falling volume of the noise. “We need you to help us find the crashing object! Will you come?”

Zecora looked past the pony, and found five different coloured mares holding various weapons different than the kukri the alicorn held. The zebra nodded and reached for her sword. “Of course, but we must leave immediately without any remorse!”

“Right behind you, Fluttershy!” a yellow pegasus appeared from behind a light blue mare. “You have a better idea of what’s inside the Everfree Forest; help lead Zecora to take us to the source!” The pegasus nodded. “Alright then, let’s go there before some other pony ruins our chance!” The mares around her cheered and followed Fluttershy and Zecora deeper into the dark Forest.

(Sp - 117)

Everything in his body hurt, it seemed like nothing felt, or went right. Shanghai tried to move his forearm from his chair, but instantly felt a jolt of pain as he did. He gritted his teeth, and turned his head to view the damage around him; a sparking dashboard, monster cans scattered everywhere with some spilling its innards, his helmet facing towards him with one crack at the top—I’ll fix that later, no need to do it now—, and a broken window in front of him revealing a large clearing in a forest. A smear of crimson at the dashboard caught his eye and instantly assumed his, until he saw the corpse of a chicken nearby.

“Cytherea,” He said, trying to remove his seatbelt with magic. “Cytherea! Are you there?” A crackle came from behind him. “Cytherea, is that you?”

“Yea,” her voice crackled, distorting the pitch of her voice. “Your vitals are okay, you’ll live. The only problem you’re having is pain from several fractures and a couple of broken bones.”

“Is it healable?”

“Some of the fractures are, but one major fracture comes from one of your ribs. But these are alicorn magic healable. Everything else is healable with the medicine we have.”

“So what’s the problem?” He removed the seat-belt holding himself and slumped to the floor. Shanghai yelped in pain as his left side slammed into the metal floor. “So that’s where the rib is.”

“The medical area of the ship is in the room behind us. I cannot bring them over here using the automated machine. You’re going to have to manually get them and heal yourself.” The door to the cockpit opened. “This is the only way I can help you, you’re gonna have to crawl or limp from here.”

Shanghai rolled over, and concentrated on his wounds. Using his horn magic, the alicorn felt his bones mending together and a couple of broken bones partially healing. He stood from the ground, and felt pain on his left hind leg. He limped towards the door, and tripped. “Dammit!” he yelled.

“I’m getting heat signatures nearby, it seems like the locals have found our crash site,” Cytherea said from her podium nearby the door.

“What are they? Ghouls? Banshees? Or are they reptiles?” He groaned, using his magic to move his helmet to his head. He then looked inside and tried to find the motion tracker “Whatever they are,” Shanghai grabbed his solar pistol from his side. “They better be ready to fight if hostile.”

“They’re ponies!” she gasped. “Like the ones from home.”

“Then we might just be home, what is the class?”

“It seems like they don’t have a class. Also, they’re not carrying any weapons from our age, more like vintage weapons like a broadsword or a battle-axe. They’re also wearing what seems to be golden armour,” Cytherea pulled up a holographic screen before her and studied it. “I’m getting photos from our onboard camera when we entered orbit saying that this isn’t our planet. So we should be careful about what we’re doing.”

“Seems like we just met another colony,” Shanghai reached a red box labeled with a white cross near the door. He dissembled the kit, pulled out a bottle of pills, and popped a couple into his mouth. “How far are they? The ponies I mean.” He swallowed and tried to moisten his mouth. The alicorn then propped himself next to the wall.

“They’re about half a kilometer away. You might want to hurry faster; I think they exactly know where we are.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the alicorn then jabbed himself with a syringe filled with white liquid. “Whoa! This morphine is really powerful!”

“It’s not morphine; it’s a healing ingredient before taking morphine. But that’s all you really need to take,” The AI disappeared into her podium. Her voice was heard over the ship’s speaker system. “I’m transferring myself into your helmet; I have a feeling that we’re not going to be back for a while. Also, you might want to grab a plasma rifle and some solar batteries to charge it.”

“I’m on it!” Shanghai stood from his medical area and rushed into a doorway leading into the armoury. Various colours of weapons and ammo lay scattered everywhere from the crash. Shanghai then grabbed an orange and purple rifle, small cartridges of red, and a small battery to recharge his suit. “I’m pretty sure that I have everything. Hmm, I might also need to bring a health kit in case.”

“No time!” Cytherea yelled from the helmet at his feet. “They’re already here and they’ve already opened the doorway.”

“Dammit! Where are they?” the alicorn said in a deep voice. He chuckled softly about the joke he made.

“They’re at the south end, where you entered before launch. Be careful though, they don’t seem very friendly, or very forgiving at the least.”

“I forgot to ask,” Shanghai whispered. “Is this planet infested with radioactivity?”

“Not the slightest bit,” the AI replied. “But I’m applying little quantities of Rad-away into you just to get the amount you have gone.”

A loud bang and a clatter of metal came from the back. “I see nothing over here your majesty.” A stallion’s voice said.

“Your majesty?” Shanghai whispered.

“Sounds like these people are still ruled by a monarchy,” the AI said. “If possible, we might want to be on this person’s good side for as long as we can.”

“I’m sensing a pony through this way,” a female’s voice replied. “Make sure it’s clear, and bring him or her to me alive. I want to know how he or she got here first!”

“Yes ma’am!” A chorus of stallions spoke. Instantly, a door slid open from the back of room, making one of them yip in surprise. Hooves clanked on the metal floor as they had entered the room.

“Wow, look at all of this food!” a stallion exclaimed. “Think anyone that crashed here was an herbivore?”

“I doubt it,” another spoke. “There’s blood heading into another one of those doors.”

“Crap!” Shanghai whispered to Cytherea. “They’re heading our way, what do I do?” He turned on the pistol and rolled behind a box to hide himself.

“Either fire a couple of warming shots, make an attempt to escape” she replied from within the helmet. “Or reveal yourself and get this over with.”

“Guys, check this out! I found an egg!” a stallion spoke.

“Put that down! You don’t what’s in it!” another said in a gruff manner. “Be sure to put back how it was too!” Sudden clatter of metal and a hoof clop was heard. The stallion before moaned in pain.

“Hey you fool!” Shanghai appeared from behind the box he was hiding behind and leveled his solar pistol on a stallion. “Get off of my ship!”

“Get him!” a white stallion in gold armour yelled. “And be sure to bring him alive!”

Shanghai then pulled the trigger of his gun and sent a small laser of red into the chest of one the stallions. He fell, limp from the burning of his inner organs. The alicorn then shot another stallion in the neck, and another in the head. A roar from the side of him caught his attention and was knocked to the ground by one of the stallions. He struggled to get up using his magic, but was punched at the head, disorientating him.

“Got him!” the stallion said at the others, then turned his gaze at Shanghai. “You’re pretty big for a pony-like creature. Is this armour?” he said, knocking at the alicorn’s chestplate

“Yes,” he replied. “And I am a pony.”

“A unicorn, that’s what you are!” The stallion spoke, poking at the horn protruding from the helmet. A door opened from the back of the room and the stallion turned his head. He backed away from Shanghai and stood as though as at attention. “Your majesty, I have captured a unicorn. But he doesn’t seem like he belongs from this world.”

“Very good,” the same mare’s voice spoke. Shanghai turned his head at the source of the voice, and dropped his jaw.

A white, tall female alicorn stood before him with a long, multicolored ethereal mane. Shanghai stood from his tackled position and cocked his head. The mare did the same, and her face instantly turned into a studious one. She lifted a hoof decorated with a golden slipper—in fact, all of her hooves were decorated with the same design slipper— and rubbed her chin.

“Tell me,” She spoke, with a voice smooth as silk and firm as Shanghai’s mother’s burnt rice patties. “Exactly who are you?”

Shanghai removed his helmet, and placed it on the ground. He backed up away from the large alicorn, sensing a feeling of judgment. Go along with what the stallions said- a unicorn. “I uh,” he started, entranced by the mare’s mane. “I’m a unicorn. Now if you’ll excuse me, I uh, I forgot something in the cockpit.”

The white alicorn tilted her head and stepped closer. “What is this cockpit? And what is your name?” She got closer to him with every word.

Shanghai reached behind him and pressed a button, opening the door leading to the room. “It’s this room, and it controls this ship,” he turned around and ran to the main chair. “But I’m not telling you my name.”

“Why not?” Her voice changed into a seductive one. “Don’t you think that you’ve had enough trouble? My name is Celestia, I’m pretty sure you’re going to tell me yours now, are you?” The stallions behind her chuckled and shook their heads, as though they were saying ‘you done fucked up’.

At least that’s how Shanghai was interpreting it. “I know I’ve had a ton of trouble, but just let me press this one button…” He turned with his back behind the alicorn and his hoof raised.

“Oh no you don’t!” Celestia grabbed him with a magic force and pulled him away from the dashboard. She then threw him to her hooves and placed one on his chest. “You’re coming with us back to Canterlot. Just tell me who you are, I’m pretty sure you’re an alicorn! Are you?” Shanghai grinned, confirming Celestia’s assumptions. He then opened his mouth.

“Dascarlek Dramatic!” He casted a spell at Celestia, forcing her to release her magical hold that also pushed her away from him. The stallions gasped—but instantly recovered—and charged at Shanghai with the pointy end of their spears at him.

Shanghai then pulled his helmet into the room, and slammed the door. The alicorn then jumped into his chair and propped his feet into the dashboard, relieved that he no longer had to worry about them.

“Don’t you think that this is a bit too reckless?” Cytherea spoke from the helmet. “I mean, that tall, white alicorn did look strong.” Banging came from the doors as he adjusted himself.

“Nah, she can’t go through blast doors,” he pulled his mini-fridge out and opened a can of Monster. “Even if she did, I have my self-eject to go through,” A pause of silence as he grabbed another can. “Something’s off…”

“The heat signatures are still in the present spot, but I’m not finding the alicorn anywhere!” Cytherea said.

Shanghai stood from his seat, and replaced his helmet back on. “Whelp, let’s go and make a run for it. I have a feeling that since she now knows where the cockpit is, she knows where to get us.”

“Check your motion sensor,” Cytherea stated. “She may be nearby.”

The armoured alicorn stood, and looked out of his window. Seeing nothing but the dark forestland and a nearby mountain, Shanghai calculated his chances of escape. With small sigh of disappointment, he crawled out of the front of the cockpit and unto the forest floor. A squished sound came from beneath his hoof and he paused—nothing. Without making a sound, he then walked a safe distance away from ship Pillar of Autumn and analyzed her. “I’m going to miss this ship,” he said with a sigh. “I’ve had so many memories with it.”

“Well, we need to go if we’re going to go somewhere,” the AI spoke. “Now, I have a few ideas about how to disguise into the local town...”

Celestia stood on top of the ship with an invisibility spell on, watching as the oddly-armoured alicorn walked away from her in the forest clearing. “I’ll get you soon,” she whispered. “Guard,” A pegasus dressed in dark clad armour appeared. “I want you to spy on him, whenever he reaches a populated town; I want you to notify me ASAP.”

“But your majesty,” Royal Guard started. “This trail leads to Ponyville; do you want us to prepare a trap for him and at the same time spy on him?”

“Perfect!” she clapped her hooves together in glee. “You go do that and I’ll just wait at the village. Operation ‘Cat and Mouse’ is a go!”

“Just keep walking, just keep walking…” Shanghai spoke to himself. “What we’re going to do is walk, walk, walk… Ugh! Why can’t I use my wings?”

“Because, you need to lose a pound or two be able to properly fit your armour,” Cytherea said. “This isn’t exactly stretchable. Besides, you need to disguise as a regular person so that’s why I had you minimize your armour to a simple block.”

“But the block isn’t exactly storage compatible.”

“That’s why we made a pouch—and a bag—made out of manticore hide!” The AI ecstatically said from the helmet in the bag. “Besides, he was going to kill us anyways.”

“Yea, but it doesn’t mean we had to brutally murder him,” Shanghai adjusted the saddlebag and cloak covering his wings. “Don’t you think that the locals might think we’re animal killers?”

“They can think whatever they want,” she replied. “But when they ask, just say faux leather.”

“Yea like that helps,” He muttered.

“I’m seeing heat signatures from your sensor!” Cytherea said. “It looks like a group of six ponies and a zebra!”

“Friendlies?” Shanghai reached for the concealable solar pistol.

“They seem like a poor excuse for a rebel faction if they aren’t. So assume they are until they try attacking you.”

“Got it!” The alicorn then went into the bushes and hid.

“What are you doing that for?” the AI whispered.

“I’m waiting for a good chance for me to suddenly appear like I’m lost,” a mare’s voice was heard in the distance. “I’ll give it a minute.”

“…And I appeared was like pow!” a tomboyish voice spoke. “The thief fell to his knees and practically begged for me to stop showing him my awesomeness!”

“So Rainbow Dash,” a fine and posh voice spoke. “Do you have any idea about who he was?”

“Nope!” The rainbow pegasus said, hovering over the group by softly flapping her wings. “All I do care is that justice was done to my good friend Pinkie!”

“That’s right!” A pink and upbeat pony replied beside a purple alicorn. “And it happened exactly¬ – Hey look! Somepony’s lost!”

Shanghai looked up from the blue plant he was boringly staring at, and looked at the group of approaching ponies. He then smiled and jumped out of the bushes at the group. “Oh thank the gods I found you, er,” he counted the number of head there was. “Seven ponies! Thank the gods! I’ve been stuck here for about uh, two days!”

“Where are you from?” the purple alicorn spoke. “You look like you should be from Ponyville.”

Shanghai put a hoof to his chin. “Yea, of course I’m from Ponyville! I uh, I just moved there just today!”

“Ooooo!” Pinkie gasped and jumped around him. “Then you must give you a party for being a new pony in our town!” She hugged him. “And it’ll be so great! Oh! I must go home and prepare!” She sped away, leaving a trail of pink behind and a wall of dust.

“So uh, is she always like this?” Shanghai asked, pointing at the direction she disappeared to. The five ponies and zebra nodded. “Well, my name is Shanghai and pleased to meet you.”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle, and of course I’m a princess,” the alicorn started and pointed to each pony. “And these are my friends; Rarity,”

“Pleased to meet you,” the white unicorn fluffed—or was it bounced? — Her hair.

“Here’s Fluttershy.”

“Hello,” a butter-yellow, quiet pegasus whispered behind a zebra.

“This is Rainbow Dash.”

“The one and only,” The pegasus puffed out her chest and did a loop in the air.

“That’s Applejack.”

“Howdy!” an orange earth pony tipped her hat.

“Here’s Zecora, our potion mare.”

“Pleased,” the zebra said, with a curious glare in her eyes.

“And the one that had just left was Pinkie Pie, the party mare. So now that you’ve met us all,” The lavender alicorn said. “Think you could help us take care of a crashing object from Celestia-knows wherever?”

“No need to find it,” the yellow ‘unicorn’ said. “The uh, stallions with a white alicorn named Celestia has already taken care of that.”

Twilight let out a grunt and mumbled to herself. “Well, at least we know it’s in safe hooves. Let’s go home girls, no need to wonder what was inside of it,” she said then mumbled. “I’ll go back eventually, just not now.” She started walking the trail the opposite way, with everyone else following her.

“What was that sweetie?” Rarity asked.

“Nothing!”

Shanghai rolled his eyes. “Anyways, I really don’t have a place to uh, sleep. So it seems logical that I need a place to rest at the moment.”

“No worries!” Applejack spoke up startling the ‘unicorn’. “You can sleep at my place; I have enough rooms to not worry about it!”

“But uh, would that make it counter-productive for me to do that?” Shanghai paced a hoof on the farm pony’s shoulder.

“Yea, you’re kind of right,” she lowered her head then perked it back up. “Instead, let’s take you straight to the town hall! It’s only one o’clock anyways.”

“Yes, let’s,” Dash sighed. “Even better, let’s go to a boring museum tour!” she said with a sarcastic tone.

Twilight gave a large gasp. “Can we? Please, please, please, please, please, please?”

“She was only making a smart-flank comment,” Applejack replied, slowing the ecstatic alicorn to a halt. “Besides, do we even have a museum in town?”

“No, but we can go to Canterlot and check out their museums,” Twilight quietly said behind her bangs.

“And where are we going to find enough time to get Shanghai a house and then head to Pinkie’s for her party?”

“Well,” Shanghai lifted a hoof. “We could forget getting me a house for the night.” He suggested. “I guess I’ll sleep at Applejack’s,” he paused. “Also, I think we’re near town because the path opens up. Also, Zecora, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash disappeared.”

“Don’t worry about them,” Rarity said. “They’ve gone to do whatever they got to do.” She turned to a different path. “I do too, so see you girls, and stallion, later!”

The last two ponies left with Shanghai said their farewell to Rarity and then turned to face him. “Ah think we should at least try and find him a home,” Applejack stated. “Come follow us, and don’t worry if anypony finds you weird because of your unusually long mane”

“Yea,” Shanghai ran his hoof through the shaggy mess. “I do have a beastly mullet; may not be the best kind of hairdo to pick, but I like it.” He kicked a pebble and hit a tree.

“Actually,” Twilight started. “We’ll take you to the beauty salon to get that fixed. Now, do you have any bits on you?”

“I uh,” he rubbed the back of his head, thinking of a clever excuse. “I don’t have any; I lost all of it in a gamble with the devil.”

“Who’s the devil?” She replied.

“It’s a person that uh, that’s like a game shark and he uh,” He stammered. “He practically loots you of all your money via gambling.”

“Uh huh,” Applejack rose an eyebrow. “You’re not even from the country of Equestria are you?”

The yellow alicorn chuckled, “Looks like you caught me! I’m not even from near here.”

“So are you from Grayphon?” Twilight asked, starting the walk again. “Or somewhere further?”

“Uh, further you can say,” Shanghai chuckled. “If anything, you probably don’t even know where I’m at!”

“I’ll take your word on it,” Twilight giggled.

A decorative building slowly grew in size as the small group of three trotted towards it. Eventually, they reached the door, and entered the building. Upon entering, a grey mare nearly crashed into Shanghai, knocking him over. With a quick apology, she exited the building with a rush.

The alicorn took a long look at the surroundings around him, and saw that this was no different from any other salon; white walls around him, tile flooring, a table with fashion magazines—which actually looked interesting—, shampoo and conditioning advertisement on shelves, and a register worker not really paying attention to the area around her. Shanghai took a deep breath, and exhaled.

“Feels just like home,” he whispered.

“What was that?” Applejack asked, looking up from reading a magazine about clothing fashion.

“I’m just getting a familiar vibe of home at the moment,” the ‘unicorn’ replied. He then walked up to the register and coughed, getting the worker’s attention. “I would like a haircut of professional quality and I heard that this was the place to do it.”

“That’s right!” a mare beside him spoke, startling him. “In fact, we’ll make sure that this… mane of yours becomes something bigger! My name is Lotus by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Lotus,” Shanghai said. “My name is Shanghai, and my friends here are-“

“Princess Twilight Sparkle and Element holder Applejack,” Lotus said. “Yea, I know. Princess Twilight came to the back and told me about you Shanghai. There’s so little that she said about you. Are you just new friends?”

“Yea,” He fiddled with his hooves and rubbed the back of his head. “Anyways, this mane of mine needs a cut and pronto. I’m kind of getting tired of my mullet-“

“Wait,” the earth pony raised her hooves to stop him. “That’s mane-style is called a mullet? Heh, that’s got to be the silliest name ever, I’m sorry if you made it up, but just know that it’s a silly name.”

“Don’t worry, this hair style was made about eighty years ago where I’m from,” Shanghai walked towards a chair and propped himself up to sit on it. “I’m just trying to bring it back into fashion.”

“Well,” She looked at the style and put a hoof on her chin. “We could patch it up to make it look like current times. Heh, I hate myself for saying this but, you might bring up a new fashion idea before anyone here. Except for Rarity of course, everyone just loves her work.” Lotus shook herself and lowered her voice to a whisper. “To be honest with you, I don’t like Rarity sometimes. She’s a fun pony overall, I just don’t like how she sometimes calls out the faults in your fashion ideas. Like right now she’ll be probably trying to take over and make this something not even close to the original idea.”

Shanghai nodded, took off his saddlebag, and lain his head back. “Let’s do this,” He said with a hoof-bump.

Lotus chuckled and kicked his chair back to level. “I’m pretty sure this will be one of my best works yet.”

(YCS-186)

“If you keep messing with it, it’ll eventually start falling out,” Applejack said. “I know it feels weird Shanghai, but just deal with it.”

“Fun fact,” Twilight spoke. “Your name means to trick somepony with a move just to gain advantage. Does it really explain you though?”

“I don’t really know, but sometimes I live up to name’s sake back when I was in my home-city,” The yellow ‘unicorn’ said, nearly bumping into a royal guard. “Jeez, what’s with these people? They seem to be everywhere today.”

Twilight looked around, and sure enough, she spotted at least four guards scattered. If that’s in a point of one kilometer squared, then there’s over forty guards here in town! Her eyes shot open. But who, or what,are they looking for?

“If they’re here, then that means either Celestia’s in town, or we’re gonna have some trouble,” Applejack guessed.

“I hope they’re not looking for me!” Shanghai joked, nudging Twilight on the shoulder. “I would hate to be arrested for just hanging out with a Princess!” Applejack chuckled with him, but the lavender pony remained quiet.

“Something’s not right,” Twilight whispered. “And I believe that something is nearby.”

“Don’t worry about it!” the yellow ‘unicorn’ replied, not changing Twilight’s look one bit. “Eh, it was worth a try. Anyways, let’s head to Pinkie’s! She was supposed to be throwing a party right? Or the cake a lie?

“Yep!” Applejack licked her lips. “I’m actually hungry for those cupcakes she makes right about now, and we should go!” She started in a random direction down the boulevard. “Come Twi and Shanghai! We got a party to go to!”

“I’ll be right there,” Twilight replied. What could so wrong at the moment? Maybe it’s just that Celestia is here. Yea, I guess that’s what it is. Ought to go and say hi. She trotted behind the disguised alicorn, with her head filled with questions.

A left at a busy intersection revealed a large building that seemed to resemble a gingerbread house, and with a smell of the bakery strengthened that assumption. Shanghai’s mouth watered, he was obviously lost for words as the strength of the sweets inside the building grew ever stronger as he got closer. Once he reached the front door, the sugary scent was strong enough to make him hyper and overwhelmed.

He opened the door and walked inside into a highly decorative lobby with a sign that said ‘Welcome new unicorn!’ Shanghai smiled; although he only celebrated birthdays every five years, this was just a makeup for every other year that wasn’t celebrated.

Pinkie appeared from what appeared to be nowhere flashing Shanghai a palette of cupcakes. She motioned him to go ahead, and he lifted one. The ‘unicorn’ studied the colourful cupcake, and decided eating it was probably the best option. He bit into the bakery item, and nearly gagged on the sweetness of it.

“Does it taste that bad?” Pinkie muttered nearby.

“No,” Shanghai tried to bite into it again, but recoiled at how the sugary flavor attacked his taste buds. “I’ve never had anything this extremely sugary. I’m sorry Pinkie, but this cupcake frosting is way too sugary for me.” The ‘unicorn’ placed the cupcake on a nearby table.

“Oh…” she trailed off, losing some of her smile. “How about this one?” the pink pony pulled out another cupcake of a similar look, but had a more glossy sheen to it.

Shanghai again bit into it, but was less disgusted by the sweetness. “It’ll do,” He lied. “If anything, it’s pretty good.” He said with a hint of truth.

Pinkie’s grin grew wider as she had earned another praise of approval for her cupcakes. “Thank you!” She squealed, and leaped at the ‘unicorn’. Shanghai—with a couple months of training to be a peacekeeper for space—dodged the hug, and glomped the pony as an act of surprise.

“Gotcha!” He said, hugging her neck. “I’m also a vampire,” the yellow pony then opened his mouth and playfully nibbled on her.

Pinkie giggled, and shoved him away. “Next time, I’ll be sure to glomp you!”

“My turn!” Shanghai felt a force collide into his side and a couple of hooves hugging him. He turned his head, and found Rainbow Dash attacking and nibbling on the hood of his cloak.

“Dash dear,” Rarity said from the doorway. “Would you please get off of him? I’m pretty sure he has been bothered a lot about it. Nice cut by the way.”

“Not really, and thanks about the mane!” the yellow alicorn replied. “Oh, and hello there Fluttershy.”

The pony squeaked and made herself as small as she could behind Rarity. “Hello,” she whispered as quiet as she could.

He chuckled, not really knowing what she actually said. Shanghai then turned to face the small snack bar near the back of the room, and decided that it was a good time if anything to become the hunter. The alicorn crouched and slowly crept up to the table, mimicking a panther. A bowl of red punch sat there, a plate of potato chips, and the assorted amount of candies, all clearly mocking him. Shanghai then did a small roar and shoved his face first into the plate of chips, making an audible nom every time he ate a chip.

A cough from behind him caught his attention and he stopped. He turned his head, and found not only a guard facing him, but found Princess Celestia there as well, giving him an angry glare.

Shanghai smiled and wiped his mouth for crumbs. He then slowly backed away after quickly grabbing a pre-made cup of punch and walked away to a group of quiet ponies in hoods also. He took a sip, and slowly turned his gaze towards the princess. Her stare remained unwavering by anything, not even a fly could change her look, and staring directly at him.

Shanghai then chugged the rest of his cup and reached into his saddlebag. He then grabbed the cube containing his armour and pressed a button at the very top. Celestia stared at the box, then back at him, but decided nothing against it. He grinned then grabbed the shoulder of his cloak and tore it away.

But it didn’t work out as planned; the cord tying the cloak together choked against his neck, and he nearly gagged. Celestia jumped in surprise at him and so did the ponies around him. “Sorry, it looked a lot more awesome in my head,” he announced after recovering such self-harm. He then untied the cord and then removed the cloak in a casual way. “I couldn’t do it again, it would’ve been better if it happened the first time. The second time just isn’t as epic you know?” Dash nodded in agreement and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Thanks Rainbow Dash.”

The cube completely disassembled itself and crawled around his hoof, then slowly covering his body with carbon-fiber metals. As the inner cover was surrounding his body, the armour self-assembled itself and adjusted to its positions. Everypony in the room backed away and watched as the mysterious armour surrounded the pony. An audible click happened, and the assembly suddenly stopped.

“One final preparation,” Shanghai spoke. He then lifted his helmet from the fallen saddlebag at his hooves and placed the Ranger level helmet on his head. With a pop, it connected and small spark surrounded the pony. “Almost done…” He trailed off.

“Shields are fully charged and you only have two solar rounds left,” Cytherea said from within the helmet. “Also, your radiation is gone. But a new kind of radiation appeared, the magical kind.”

Everyone in the room exploded with a wow, leaving Shanghai with an opening. “What’re my chances?” He whispered. “I can worry about the rad later.”

“Run right about… now!” the AI said.

His legs propelled his body forward to the doorway. Suddenly, a pair of guards appeared, blocking his pathway to freedom. “Dammit!” Shanghai yelled, turning to head upstairs.

As he had reached the top stair, a yell came from a mare downstairs. “I will get you Shanghai!” Celestia yelled in frustration. “I don’t care if you’re an alicorn! Just come back here and explain yourself! You’re not going to get arrested!”

“Nope!” He yelled down the stairs. “Leerrroooy Jeeenkiiins!” Shanghai then turned and ran down the hallway to a window where he had jumped out of it.

“Shields are at twenty-five percent,” Cytherea said, after landing on rocky gravel. “Be careful, I think some of the guards are going to be hunting you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, running past a curious group of ponies. “In fact, I’m going to use my wings. Prepare the boosters; I think they’re going to get the cavalry on us.”

A loud, booming noise sounded from behind him and he was suddenly tackled, removing more of his shield to near nothing. “I got ‘em!” Dash yelled.

“Dammit!” The yellow alicorn yelled. “I was so close to getting away! I thought we had a mutual agreement!” He struggled to escape the pegasus' pin, but noticed that it was futile as she then pressed his forelegs to the ground.

“What agreement? That I wouldn’t betray my leader? And why are you running?” she asked. “She probably isn’t going to do anything to you if you just do what she asks. Besides, you are an alicorn, right?”

“Yea I am,” He looked around. “And be sure that no-one else other than the building knows; but I’m actually playing a game on her, just a simple game of cat and mouse. If she wins this, then who knows what’s going to happen to me. I don’t want to lose this game. So you can release me, then this game is gonna to keep going.”

“You know that you’re going to have to lose one way or another, nopony usually wins against her.”

“Is it because she’s royalty?”

A pause, “…Yea.” Dash lifted her hoof, “But I’m going to do something that you’ll probably never forget about.”

“What? You’re going to knock me out?” Shanghai joked while removing his helmet, but his chuckle slowly turned to realization. He then scrambled to escape, but was pinned harder by Dash. “Okay fine! But please don’t break my handsome cheekbones and nose! And please be soft on my eyes, they’re colourful!”

Dash grinned, “No promises.” She balled up her hoof, and swung with a hook to his face with a jab to his armoured stomach, but instantly recoiled from the stiffness of the metal protection.

Shanghai’s face suddenly hurt, vision grew clouded after a couple punches, and hearing disabled as the last thing heard was a certain alicorn yelling incoherent, scolding phrases.

Beyond Cosmos

by Lion Tale

Launching!

Living a half-life