Upgrade

by Cadet

First published

A young inventor discovers something that was meant to be hidden...

[NOTICE] This is more like a biography than a self insert if you have noticed something about the characters.

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, so is a lot."
- Albert Einstein

A young inventor by the name of Cadet had made an interesting discovery. Unfortunately for him, that discovery had made him a criminal. What had started out as trying to find what they expected of him, had now turned into a trial. When he quickly discovered that his discovery had been illegal, he decided to covertly investigate his discovery more. He wanted to know why the discovery was illegal. And that was when he had found THE planet.

There may or may not be gore or something. The characters may or may not be changed during the story. Everything pretty much depends on how I feel while I am writing it. When I start to write a chapter, I will post a blog with a Google Docs link so that you can watch me type the chapter, if you are somewhat inclined, or you could send me a message on steam suggesting any ideas for the story. Also, I will be accepting any fan-art if you draw any. *cough*COVER-ART*cough* Any constructive criticism will be very much appreciated. Thank you, and enjoy the story.

Chapter 1: Expectations and Punishments

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Chapter 1: Expectations

The school bells rung as a group of fillies ran out of the school to head home and relax. Among them was a white earth colt with a brown mane named Cadet. He usually was the first one off of the school grounds, as he was not like the other fillies. He had yet to find his special talent. He got teased by some students for not having a cutie mark. He trotted home to his house in Canterlot. As he went home, he already had ideas flying into his head. Ideas that might change the way everypony lives.

He walked up to his front door and removed a key from his saddlepack to unlock the door. He went inside, got a snack, and then proceeded upstairs to his room. To his surprise, his older sister was home early.

"Hey Cadet! Mom is out getting food, and Dad is stuck at work." She said when she noticed him walk past her room.

"Okay." Cadet said. He was not a colt of many words, but a colt of many ideas.. He had very few friends, and usually kept to himself. It was only when he was excited or in a conversation, of which the subject of it interested him, when he could felt like he could talk for hours. He continued down the hall to his room. As he entered his room, he took off his backpack and placed it on the ground next to the door. His room was simple. A few shelves were on one side of his room. His bed and desk were on the other. On the wall with the door, there was a table with many random mechanical pieces.

He went to his desk to work in his homework when he noticed something on his workbench. He did not see at first when he entered due to the fact that a box was in the way. He walked over to the workbench and began to search for the object that caught his attention.

It was a screwdriver, although . He picked the screwdriver up, examining it has he did. He had never held one in his life. He had no idea of how and what he could do with it. Setting it down, he found a note next to where the screwdriver was when he walked in. He picked the note up and read it. ‘We know what you are capable of...’ it read. Who’s we? Cadet pondered as he placed the note on his desk, and examined his room. His instinct told him that if there was one change to an object, there could be another. He saw another note on one of the shelves closest to the window. He walked over and picked up the small piece of paper. ‘We expect many things of you, Cadet.’ it read. He froze as he read the mysterious words. How do they know my name? Why do they want me? He thought.

“Cadet,” His father said, “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Cadet replied.

“Okay, then. Dinner is almost done, so go wash up.”

He looked at his clock, and noticed that thirty minutes had went by. Weird… He thought. It wasn’t normal for time to go that fast. But he will have to look into it later, his family was waiting for him. Before he left his room, he noticed yet another note on the ceiling. Cadet had to get on top of his desk to read it. ‘Hide the screwdriver, and destroy the notes. Covertly.’

He looked at the metallic object and connected the dots. After washing off a bit of mud from his white coat, he took the notes and proceeded downstairs towards the fire place. He then ripped up the notes multiple times and then threw the remains in to the fire downstairs, and made sure that all of the remains had been burnt. After washing off a bit of ash from his white coat, he proceeded to the dinner table to join his family and eat dinner.

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After he and his family ate dinner, he told his parents that he will be back and that he was going to visit a friend. He ran up to his room and grabbed his saddlepack. He made sure to hide the screwdriver in his pack. He grabbed his scooter, and took off to the home of his friend, Max Speed. As he rode, he had a flashback to the day when he got the idea to make his scooter. It was the day when his school took a field trip to a small village called Ponyville. While he was there on the trip, he saw an orange pegasus riding one. He noticed that this pegasus had no cutie mark. He imagined that her life must have been unbearable due to teasing, but she looked...happy. All he could do was smile.

He returned to the present to find that he was just around the corner from his friend's house. He arrived at Max Speed's home and walked up the stairs. He knocked on the door and waited. It was Max who answered the door.

"Hey Cadet! What can I do for you?" He said with an enthusiastic tone.

"Hey, I need some help..." Cadet replied.

"Alright," Max said, "C'mon in! Meet me in my room, I'll be up in a minute." "Okay."

Cadet walked up the stairs into his friend's room. Max's room was full of evidence that supported the fact that he was a Wonderbolts fan. He had a couple of pillows in front of a screen, where he and Cadet would play video games. Cadet took a seat on the pillow and waited. After a few minutes of waiting, Max entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"Right, now. What was it that you needed help with?" Max asked.

"This. It's apparently a screwdriver. " Cadet replied, while showing Max the tool.

"Huh, interesting. " Max said after carefully inspecting the tool. "Sorry, pal. I'm as confused as you are."
"Oh well, worth a shot. Hey, since I am over here, how about that rematch?"
"Hmm...sure, why not? After all, it has been a while."

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Cadet snapped back into reality to find that he was being transported to Princess Celestia herself. He smiled at the flashback. That was fifteen years ago, and now he had made the biggest mistake of his life. He had discovered a very distant land; A land of war. A land of danger. A land that was alien to him. He did not remember exactly how he discovered this land. It did not matter now. The guards that were pulling his transport stopped outside of the castle. It was time. He had discovered knowledge that was forbidden by royal law, and he had to be punished. The guards escorted into the Royal Chamber, where Princess Celestia waited, and she did not look happy.

Chapter 2: Could have been worse, I guess.

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After he had finished his rematch with Max, which he had lost, Cadet had decided that it was time to head home. Cadet exchanged farewells with Max, grabbed his scooter, and then proceeded to go home. When he reached his house, he realized that most of the lights were off, even though it was only 8:12. Cadet opened the front door and carefully made his way upstairs in the darkness.

He finally reached his room after a couple of minutes. He took out the screwdriver and sat down to examine it. He noticed how the shaped of the head was; flat and straight. He made sure to make a note of that. He had already figured out that it was a tool, he just hadn't figured out how to use it. He sat the tool down on his desk and went over to his bed. As he was getting into his bed, he felt something...metallic touch his fur. He sat up and held it in front of him. He instantly recognized the tool as a wrench. Wrapped around it was another note.

'It is time for an upgrade...'

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Cadet could feel his body desperately wanting to crumble underneath the glare of the princess. He knew that he had to show that he still had some dignity. Finally, the guards opened the cage and allowed Cadet to step out for the trial. Cadet looked at the jury, noticing how most of them looked extremely uptight. Finally, the princess spoke.

"Cadet, you have committed crimes against the royal crown. A crime that is punishable by death. But, we have decided to give you a fair trial. The prosecutor has the floor."

Cadet really did not listen to what the prosecutors were saying; it was all lies, anyway. Soon, he would have the chance to explain everything.

"...We simply cannot let this pony to continue his experiments! It could harm Equestria's society and economy!"
"Your time is up, the defendant now has thirty minutes to state his case."

"Thank you. As you all know by now that I have been performing illegal experiments. What you all don't know is why I did them. I performed the experiments in the pursuit of knowledge and innovation. Great risk usually come with great rewards. Was technological innovation not the reason why we now have a train system in Equestria, which carries precious cargo and passengers to their destinations? We cannot rely on magic as a way of living all the time. It is not how a civilization progresses." Cadet spoke logically and passionately. While it did convince some of the jury members, it was not enough to get a pardon.

"Cadet, you have been found guilty of your crimes and the jury sentences you to life in prison."

He was afraid that this will happen. It's why he came prepared with a plan. Since the guards arrested him when he had his saddlepack on, all of his tools are in reach...kinda. The guards started to force Cadet towards the door. He decided to initiate his plan. "Since I will never see my stuff again, may I look at my life's work?" Cadet asked, feigning his sincerity.
"I don't see why not." The princess replied. Cadet said his thanks, then proceeded towards his cell with the guards.

Finally, after some time, Cadet reached the dungeon. A aurora of mildew filled his nostrils. One of the guards handed him his saddlepack. It was hard to open it since Cadet had cuffs on. Cadet got the bag open after many failed attempts and took out a device. It was a transdimensional portal gun. Or, thats what it is suppose to be. Cadet never had the chance to test it. He slipped it on to his hoof and noticed a small note in the pack. 'Big risk earn big rewards. You must escape, cadet.' It has been awhile since I've gotten one of these. He knew what had to be done.

Let's hope this works...

Firing up the device, he pointed his hoof at the back wall, and fired. The portal opened, allowing Cadet to enter it. Unfortunately, this caught the attention of the guards. "Hey, what are you doing?! Get him!" As the guards began to unlock the door to the cell, Cadet quickly threw on his saddlepack, hoped for the best, and jumped through.

Everything became a blur. Cadet was blinded by the extreme light that the portal produced. What was seconds, it felt like hours. Cadet could feel his senses coming back to him, just in time for a loud, deep 'honk' noise and two spherical lights to come at him at great speeds. Cadet's instincts kicked in and he hit the ground, lying flight and hoping that it was a correct decision.

It was. The thing passed over him with ease. Although he could only look to his right, he noticed that this thing had wheels. Except, they were not wooden. They were made out of a black substance and metal, or so he thought.

Finally, the stange, foreign object passed over him. He rose to his hooves and looked at the object. It seemed to have a very large box on the back of it. On the box, there was a picture that seemed to say 'Wal-mart'. There was several other things on the back of it. Cadet did not have time to study it. He decided to walk out of the path the the object had taken, in case another one had come. He saw a patch of trees nearby and made his way into it, just to find that, indeed, it was just a small patch of trees. On the other side, there was signs and buildings, dozens of them. One of them was large and had mutliple 'metal carriages' inside it's overhanging roof. On the side of it said 'Shell'. Inside the carriages, there was these bipedal creatures. They had fingers, toes, and tiny noses, brownish hair, and tannish skin.



Wait a minute...these creatures...could it be? Could they be ones from the myths and legends? Cadet did not have time to think about this, as he heard a 'beep' coming from the right of him, it it was getting louder, really fast. Cadet snapped his neck to the right and instantly got scared. A metal carriage was just about to collide with him. He could feel time slowing to a halt, his breathing and heart beat suddenly becoming easier to hear. Then, he felt a sharp pain on his head, and everything went to black.



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POV: Jack

"God damnit! I need to stop driving at night. Well," Jack said while stepping out of his car, "time to check the damage." Jack walked to the front of his car, checking the hood and front bumper. What he did not expect to find was a horse-like thing.

"Man, I hit a...small horse?" Jack was extremely confused. Doing what he thought was right, he place two fingers on the horses neck. Thump thump. "Well, at least it isn't dead." He mumbled. Again, doing what he thought was right, he took the weird horse into his arms. He'd have to call his friend, a veterinarian, over to check on the horse. Much cheaper, anyway. Surprisingly, the horse was lighter than he anticipated. He walked the horse over to the back of his Focus. He laid the horse down gently onto his back seat. He grabbed the 'emergency pillow and blanket kit (Patent Pending)' and opened it. He gently place the pillow underneath the horses head, and layer the blanket across the horse.

After making sure the horse looked comfortable, Jack got back into his car, and drove back to his house.

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POV: Cadet

He walked over to the control panel for his device, and started to turn it on. Hopefully, the wall in front of him could support a quantum space hole. He flipped most of the instrumental switches to the correct position. He paused before hitting the final switch. He had to put his goggles on. Now with his eyes protected, he hesitantly reached for the final switch, and flipped it.

A beautiful orange and blue ball flew out the end of the device and straight onto the wall. An even more beautiful orange and blue oval appeared. Once the portal was open, he gazed inside. Fire, massive explosions, loud popping noises, a red sky, sirens going off...death. Lots and lots of death. To him, this was the true definition of horror. Before he could react, a ball of fire shot at him. He couldn't move because of his fright. And just as it was about to hit-

"Ahh!" Cadet screamed while he shot up after waking. He instantly realized this wasn't his room and started to look around.

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POV: Jack

"...So, yeah, you think you could come over?" Jack said to his friend. "I don't know, man," his friend spoke, "I'd have to get a perm-" "Ahhh!" Jack's eyes widened. The scream came from the other room. The room with the surprisingly light-weight horse. The first thing that came to his head was that an intruder had entered that room and was frightened by the horse. Grabbing a baseball bat from his closet, he preceeded to the room. When he got to the door, he got ready to beat down the intruder, and swung the door open.

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POV: Cadet

He heard something walking up to the door. It sounded bipedal. He looked at the door just in time to see it swing open. There was another one of those creatures he had scene right before he was- wait, what had happened again? It had a shocked look on his face. He started to study the creature. The creature, possibly male, was in a slight attack stance with a bat at hoo- hand. When Cadet got the face, he was surprised at the emotion that the face held. It just looks so pony like…

He continued to stare at the creature in awe, until Cadet recognized the stance the creature was in… The creature was in a threatening stance, and it had a weapon. Time slowly came to a halt as Cadet began to fear for his life. He was getting overwhelmed and he needed to get out of there and get someplace safe.

Time began to move again as the creature appeared to be making the first strike. Cadet, still on the bed, moved quickly to the corner of the room, opposite of the creature. When Cadet got to the corner, he stopped and stared at the creature, trying to figure out what its next move was going to be.
He waited…



He waited for what felt like years as he staredown the creature…



The creature began to move. Cadet fell on to his rump and began to coward. I don’t want to die!!! I don’t want to die here on this alien world!!! The being across the room began to lower themself to the ground, placing it’s weapon on the floor. It began to open it’s mouth…
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I am a friend, okay? You’re safe here.” The being said, sounding a little hesitant or nervous.
Cadet looked at the creature in shock, the words “What the…” escaping his mouth.
The being did the same to him, in an equal amount of surprise.

They both promptly fell to the floor and proceeded to take a rather long nap in the sweet grasps of unconsciousness.

Chapter 3: Questions....

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Cadet was the first one to wake up from his slumber. He was kinda glad that he was the first one to wake, too. If the, what he had assumed was a human, woke up first…
Cadet decided that now would be a good time to get a good, long look at his surroundings. He could tell he was in a bedroom, even if it was extremely alien to him. He looked out what looked like a window and saw a dark sky. Night time. He turned his attention back to the things in the room that he currently resided. The bed was about as tall as he was! What kind of a creature would need to ha--- Oh. He thought as he suddenly remembered the other unconscious resident of the room. He decided to hold off on exploring all of his surroundings to study the creature instead. It isn’t every day you discover a new sapient species.


He was tall. Really tall. I wish I had my tools, He thought, Would’ve been cool to do measurements. Cadet sighed, and then looked up. He just felt...something. He didn’t know what it was, but it was becoming an urge, an itch. Something was urging him to look behind one of the three doors in the room. He got up and began to approach the closest door to him. His urge felt like it turned to the right, towards the second closest door. So, Cadet approached that door, but this time the urge didn’t “turn”. The urge grew even more as he came closer to the door, though.


Cadet reached the door and stopped. Do I really want to do this? He asked himself worryingly. Eh, why not? It’s just a door. With that out of the way, Cadet grabbed the door’s handle and pulled it down. The door opened to reveal a small room full of clothes, a closet. Cadet looked around and wondered why he had an urge to look in the closet. He was about to leave as something caught his eye. He stared at it in wonder.


It was his saddlebag...with all of his tools in it.


Why was it here? How did it get here? He wanted to know, but he decided that he will have the time to find out later. Right now, he needs to record data. Cadet grabbed the saddlebag and left the closet.


Cadet opened the saddlebag and retrieved the things he needed; measuring tape, his journal, and a feather and some ink. With that set, he proceeded to measure the creature in front of him. The creature was 6ft 1in. Cadet was about to weigh the creature when he realized that he couldn’t. The creature was laying down, and attempting to weigh it would probably wake it. He decided that maybe he could do it later.


After gathering as much scientific data as he could, Cadet carefully placed everything back into his saddlebag and then tossed it on to his back. Now he could explore the massive home of the creature. He walked out of the bedroom and into another room. It felt like a kitchen, but there was so many things in it. He got distracted by some music and a voice coming from the other room. Cadet’s instincts kicked in, urging him to run away. His mind, however, told him to explore and discover.


Cadet slowly walked over to the door that obstructed him from the voice and music. He opened it as quietly as possible and entered, and the music and voice stopped. He look around. He was the only living creature in the room. He was, again, about to leave and explore the rest of the house when the voice came back. This time, Cadet could clearly tell what it was saying.


“...and hello again from Fox News in Washington. Well, it took awhile, but Donald Trump finally agreed to an interview on Fox News Sunday. I had asked him some tough questions…”



What.


Cadet’s mind just broke. He tried to make sense of everything. What is a “Fox News” and who is Donald Trump? Why was there another one of those creatures in a really flat box? These creatures can’t fit into it; they are too big! Even more so, how can it be talking so quietly but so clearly?


His train of thought derailed, flew off the bridge, smashed into the ground, and turned into a massive fireball when he heard rustling coming from the kitchen. Uh oh, He thought.


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[POV: Jack]


Jack awoke from his slumber really groggily. He felt like crap. He felt like how somebody should feel waking up on a Monday, even though it was a Sunday. Jack got up and remembered what had happened before. He had brought home a small horse...pony...after hitting it with his car. He came into his bedroom after hearing a yelp/shout resonate from it. The only other creature was the pony… which spoke…


Jack’s head began to hurt, trying to make sense of it. Humans are the only species on Earth intelligent enough to develop and utilize language. So, why is a pony talking? He pondered.
He looked around him and noticed that the pony wasn’t in the room. Must’ve woken up before me.


Jack exited his bedroom and walked into the kitchen. He reached into the cabinet above the sink and dug around for some Excedrin. Having found the medicine for his newly developed headache, he took it. He’d have to wait awhile till it actually does something. He noticed the kitchen door was slightly opened, even though he had fully closed it before. Maybe the pony is in there. Jack pushed the door out of the way and walked into the front room.


There, sitting in front of the T.V., was the pony. Jack stared at the pony as the pony stared back at him. Jack took a step closer. The pony, obviously frightened, got up and took a step away. Hmmmm….


“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you” Jack said trying to calm the pony. Wait a minute…


“.........Y-You aren’t?” the pony asked with a worrisome tone.


Yep, there it is. Great mental preparation. Jack thought.


“Yes, I-I am not going to harm you.” Jack said, with some of the words getting caught in his throat. The pony looked like it noticed the stutters. “Sorry, It’s just-. It’s just not everyday I get to talk to an intelligent creature besides another human.”


“What do you mean by that?” the pony asked, still calming down.


“Well, humans are the only intelligent creature on Earth” Jack replied. At this point, Jack noticed that the pony had calmed down enough, so he decided to ask for a title. “Oh, uhh, what should I call you?”


“...Cadet. My name is Cadet.”


“Cadet, huh? That’s a rather unusual name.” Jack stated, while he studied Cadet. Probably military? Jack was looking for something, a detail, a description, anything. His gut was telling him that he has made a huge mistake by taking in the pony. Eh, whatever. If something happens, he’ll just wing it like he usually does.


“Unusual? Then what is your name?” Cadet said, tilting his head as if something didn't add up quite right.


Jack took a couple of seconds, thinking if he should give his name to an alien creature. He decided to give it anyway, using the logic of “if stuff goes down, wing it.”


“My name is Jack. ...Hey, are you hungry?”


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After making some food, Jack placed two bowls of freshly cooked tomato soup on the table...or at least as fresh as he can make it, it was from a can. Jack grabbed two spoons and got the table set up before calling for Cadet. Cadet had taken the opportunity to completely tear apart the T.V. Every little piece was organized in an orderly fashion on the floor in front of Cadet. He really wanted to study this contraption, this illusion, and to try to make sense of it. How did it work? Jack told him that he is just seeing a moving image with sound, coming live from… Washington?


Cadet had no clue what “Washington” is; maybe it's a place? He’ll have to ask next time he has the chance...